BIOLOGY. 


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in 2010 with funding from 
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Nature Neighbors 


JOHN JAMES AUDUBON EDITION 
Limited to Two Thousand and Fifty Sets 


FROM THE MINIATURE BY F. CRUIKSHANK, PUBLISHED BY ROBERT HAVELL, 


January 12, 1955 


NATURE NEIGHBORS 


Embracing 


BIRDS, PLANTS, ANIMALS, 
MINERALS 


In Natural Colors by Color Photography 


Containing Articles by Gerard Alan Abbott, Dr. Albert Schneider, William 
Kerr Higley, Thomas Crowder Chamberlin, John Merle Coulter, 
David Starr Jordan, and Other Eminent Naturalists. 

Edited by Nathaniel Moore Banta 


Six Hundred Forty-eight Full-page Color Plates 


Containing Accurate Photographic Illustrations in Natural Colors 
of Over Fifteen Hundred Nature Specimens 


VOL. I— BIRDS 


AMERICAN AUDUBON ASSOCIATION 
CHICAGO 


Copyright, 1914 
By Nathaniel Moore Banta 


To 


Nature Lovers 


Nature, the old nurse, took 
The child upon her knee, 
Saying: “ Here is a story-book 
Thy Father has written for thee.” 


“Come, wander with me,” she said, 
“Into regions yet untrod, 

And read what is yet unread 
In the manuscripts of God.” 


And he wandered away and away 
With Nature, the dear old nurse, 

Who sang to him night and day 
The rhymes of the universe. 


And whenever the way seemed long, 
Or his heart began to fail, 
She would sing him a more wonderful song, 
Or tell him a more marvelous tale. 
— Henry W. LoneFretiow. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 
I How to Srupy THe Birps 
II Svccestep Exercises 1x Groupine Birps 
III Divine Birps 
IV Lone-wincep SwIMMERS 
V Dvcxs anp GEESE . 
VI Waorine Birps . 
VII Marsu Birps 
VIII Suore Birps 
IX Qvatt, Grouss, Etc. 
X = Birps or Prey . ae 
XI Wooprrckers, Cucxoos, Erc. 
XII Goatsuckers, Humminc-zirps, Etc. 
XII ~Frycatcuers 
XIV Crows, Jays, Erc. 
XV _ Buacxsirps, Ortotes, Erc. 
XVI Fincues, Sparrows, Etc. 
XVII _ Insectivorovs Birps 
XVITI Warsters . Hes 
XIX Turasuers, Wrens, Etc. 
XX Creepers 
XXI TuHrvusHEs 
XXII Famous Forricn anp IntropucrEp Brrps 
XXIII Eces anp FreatHers 


PAGE 
13 
25 
31 
39 
57 
89 

103 
121 
153 
177 
213 
235 
253 
265 
281 
303 
357 
377 
419 
435 
451 


467 
517 


A FEW OF THE BIRD FAMILY 


The Old Bob White, and chipbird; 
The flicker and chee-wink, 

And little hopty-skip bird 
Along the river brink. 


The blackbird and snowbird, 
The chicken-hawk and crane; 

The glossy old black crow-bird; 
And buzzard down the lane. 


The yellowbird and redbird, 
The tom-tit and the cat; 

The thrush and that redhead bird 
The rest’s all pickin’ at! 


The jay-bird and the bluebird, 
The sap-suck and the wren— 
The cockadoodle-doo bird, 
And our old settin’ hen! 


—James Wuitcomes RILey. 


PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE 


There have been published recently so many excellent works upon 
the subject of Nature that it might seem presumptuous on the part 
of the publishers of Nature Neighbors to bring out such a work at 
the present time. The publishers have thought this matter over very 
carefully, and their answer is this: 


“Shall the sparrow cease to sing 
While mocking-birds are caroling?” 


There is, however, at least one unique claim the publishers make 
for this work. There is no other work obtainable which contains the 
vast number of classified, accurate specimens in natural colors upon 
the subject of Birds, Plants, Animals, and Minerals of North America 
which can be purchased at a price within the reach of well-nigh all 
who earnestly desire it. It has been the aim of the publishers to pre- 
sent a work upon these subjects that would be highly acceptable to 
the average reader. Long technical descriptions, however desirable 
they may be to the specialist, are not to be found in Nature Neighbors. 
The descriptions of the various nature subjects here given average 
only about three hundred words each, and are generally gauged to 
the comprehension of the average grammar school or high school 
student; and by having an excellent natural color specimen of each 
subject treated, the information may be obtained quickly and 
accurately. 

Over five hundred bird specimens are here illustrated true to life. 
These illustrations, together with the excellent descriptions, should 
prove a most desirable aid to the study and appreciation of birds. 
Our feathered friends, on account of their great economic value, are 
given a most important division of this work. In discussing this 
economic status of the birds Chester A. Reed says in his “ Bird Guide”: 


PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE 


“The daily consumption of chiefly noxious insects in Massachusetts 
is twenty-one thousand bushels. ‘This estimate is good for about five 
months in the year, May to September, inclusive; during the remainder 
of the year the insects, eggs, and larvae destroyed by our winter, late 
fall, and early spring migrants will be equivalent to nearly half this 
quantity. It is the duty, and should be the pleasure, of every citizen 
to do all in his or her power to protect these valuable creatures, and 
to encourage them to remain about our homes. The author believes 
that the best means of protection is the disseminating of knowledge 
concerning them, and the creating of an interest in their habits and 
modes of life.” 

Nearly one thousand color specimens of Plants, Animals, and Min- 
erals are given. These, together with the bird specimens, and the 
interesting and instructive descriptions, ought to stimulate in the most 
dormant a love for the great out-of-doors. 

The publishers believe with Dr. Albert Schneider that “the true 
object of nature study is to develop a love for all living things. This 
should, however, not be carried to extremes, for the universal struggle 
for existence makes this at best a cruel world. Wantonly killing or 
injuring any living thing should be condemned. The spirit should be 
promptly and intelligently discouraged and in its place a feeling of 
sympathy cultivated.” 

Should the reader of these volumes question the accuracy of the 
color plates, or the amount or quality of the text, let him wander out 
with Mother Nature where he will for himself discover 


“Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.” 7 


Cuicaco, April 2, 1914. 


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


The publishers desire to extend their acknowledgment and thanks 
to the firms who have kindly permitted the use of material in this 
work: To the publisher, A. W. Mumford, for the articles from “ Birds 
and Nature”; all unsigned articles from this source are marked with 
an asterisk ; to the publisher, John C. Mountjoy, for the articles from 
the writings of Gerard Alan Abbott and Harold B. Shinn. All articles 
in Volumes I, II, III, not otherwise accounted for, are written by 
Gerard Alan Abbott. 


CHAPTER I 
HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 


Au temperate North America is inhabited twelve months 
of the year by bird-life. Our feathered friends exist in 
greater numbers than most people suppose. It is desirable 
to commence observations about the first of the year, for 
in January, though our bird ranks are greatly depleted, 
the hardy winter residents may be observed with ease, as 
there is little foliage to obstruct the view. Inexhaustible 
patience, together with “bulldog persistence,” is productive 
of the best results. We may become botanists or geolo- 
gists with the realization that the object of our search 
exists in a given locality; but the bird student finds a 
constant change taking place in his field. The bird he 
desires most to examine becomes elusive and keeps him 
constantly on the alert. 

A good pair of field or opera glasses are valuable in 
determining the colors or markings on various birds, but 
our chief aim is to learn how and where to look for a 
given variety. 

One need not absent himself from inhabited sections in 
order to become acquainted with the common and many of 
the rarer birds. The average 200-acre farm with its natural 
timber and lake or water-course is an ideal spot for bird 
study. Birds, in their efforts to avoid their natural enemies, 
such as prowling mammals, birds of prey, and reptiles, are 

13 


WA YERSITY OF 11 i meve 
LIBRARY 


14 BIRDS 


inclined to seek rather than avoid the domains of man. You 
may be surprised to learn how many birds visit dooryards 
and orchards in the rural districts annually. Many are only 
migrants on their way to and from a more northerly latitude, 
but from ten to twenty-five varieties are common about our 
dwellings, orchards, and pastures. 

Let the bird student who is to acquire a knowledge of 
bird life by observation avoid the society of other persons 
when going “birding.” It may be interesting to have human 
companionship and want some one to share with you in the 
finds you hope to make. Usually the naturalist never lacks 
companionship simply because he is without the company 
of other people. To the lover of the prairies, water- 
courses, and timber lands—for such he must be to success- 
fully acquaint himself with our feathered creatures—there 
can be no longing for companionship. ‘The nodding flowers, 
swaying branches, rippling brooks, and breezy meadows all 
convey messages of their own. 

Let us take for example a given area not to exceed fifty 
miles from Lake Michigan, anywhere within an imaginary 
line drawn from a point in southwestern Michigan through 
northern Indiana and Illinois, thence northward into south- 
eastern Wisconsin. During January we have with us such 
birds as the downy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, and 
chickadee, which are fond of each other’s company, and quite 
likely to be observed together, moving about the trees in our 
dooryards, orchards, or woodlands. The noisy bluejays are 
more or less in evidence, and the ever-cautious crow visits the 
pastures and cornfields. 

The evening grosbeak, pine grosbeak, Bohemian wax- 


HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 15 


wing, redpoll, white-winged and red crossbills are at this 
season of the year wintering about the Great Lakes region, 
feeding in coniferous trees or on orchard buds, and often 
searching for wild berries and unpicked fruit. A few of our 
hardy goldfinches may be in the vicinity, and slate-colored 
juncos in company with tree sparrows are feeding on seeds 
in the weedy patches. In the open areas the Lapland and 
Smith’s longspurs are busily feeding and calling to each 
other in their mellow notes. Horned larks, shore larks, and 
snowflakes are to be seen on the prairies or often about the 
barnyards when snow is deep. 

Old hollow trees afford ample protection for the screech, 
barred, and horned owls. Occasionally a stray snowy owl 
from the far north is encountered. The hardy raven often 
reaches a latitude as far south as Illinois and Indiana, and at 
this time of the year is apt to be feeding along the shores of 
the lake looking for aquatic and land animals. 

The northern shrike haunts the hedges and parks occu- 
pied by our quarrelsome English sparrow or busy tree spar- 
row. Bands of Canada geese are living on the open water. 
They collect there during the daytime and just before sunset 
we see or hear them moving in regular V-shaped flocks to the 
fields where they feed by night. 

The grouse are very companionable at this season of the 
year; the prairie chickens and bob-whites congregate in 
immense flocks. The little bob-whites seek shelter among 
the rail fences or about the underbrush, while the prairie 
chickens frequent the fields. The ruffed grouse spend the 
day feeding on the ground, roosting by night in the trees, 
where no prowling animal may disturb them. , 


16 BIRDS 


Herring and ring-billed gulls hover over the rivers and 
along the shores of the lake, looking for fish or decayed 
animal matter. 

February brings no particular change except that other 
winter visitors may have arrived or some friends departed. 
Our true winter ducks are fishing on the open water. They 
are the old squaw, golden-eyed, white-winged scoter, Amer- 
ican and red-breasted mergansers. 

During the last ten days of February the great horned 
owl may be observed sitting upon her two white eggs depos- 
ited in an old hawk’s nest or in a hollow tree. A few short- 
eared owls may be seen flying over the frozen marsh in search 
of rodents. 

With our first week of March, several summer residents 
arrive, and during the month we may expect to see the song 
sparrow, bluebird, meadow-lark, robin, red-tailed hawk, mal- 
lard, woodcock, flicker, red-winged and rusty blackbirds, fox 
sparrow, bronzed grackle, phoebe, and others. The prairie 
horned lark is incubating her first setting of eggs. 

April brings the purple martin, mourning dove, red- 
headed woodpecker, brown thrasher, Wilson’s snipe, blue- 
winged teal, vesper, field, grasshopper, swamp, and Hens- 
low’s sparrows, towhee, and red-shouldered and sparrow 
hawks. The myrtle warbler, white-throated sparrows, and 
ruby and golden-crowned kinglets are in evidence among the 
underbrush and low trees. 

The April rains and sun have taken the frost out of the 
ground and the warmth of May restores the foliage to our 
trees and shrubbery. With the unfolding of the leaves 
appear myriads of insects and worms. Our later birds now 


HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 17 


arrive, including the brightly plumaged orioles, scarlet tan- 
agers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings, and bobo- 
links. Our daintily attired warblers and retiring flycatchers 
are haunting the trees, and vireos are carefully inspecting the 
branches and leaf stems. More ducks, shore birds, and other 
waterfowl have arrived. The plover and yellow-legs are 
whistling, and the gallinules and rails call to each other 
from clumps of old rushes, which afford better protection 
than the young vegetation. 

The phcebe, bob-white, woodcock, song sparrow, red- 
shouldered hawk, screech owl, mourning dove, bluebird, 
robin, bluejay, crow, brown thrasher, and towhee are all 
busily engaged in the duties of hatching their eggs and rear- 
ing their young. This is the season when birds in their 
ecstasy become less cautious, and afford splendid opportuni- 
ties for observation. 

You should arise before dawn, because with the first 
glimmer of daylight certain birds burst forth into song. 
Before the sun has risen, many voices may be heard on the 
meadows, in the woodlands, or about the marshes. Some 
birds found singing at this time of the year are silent during 
the day, but with the approach of twilight we are greeted 
with the carol of the wood thrush, the hymn of the vesper 
sparrow, and the cooing of the mourning dove. Night hawks 
are conspicuous, and, as the curtain of night falls, we hear 
the mournful ery of the owl and the weird note of the 
whip-poor-will. 

In June nesting is at its height. The male birds are also 
in full song, but the opportunity for bird observation is not 
so good. Our feathered friends have more serious obliga- 


18 BIRDS 


tions and are now too preoccupied to devote much time to 
courtship, so we see less of the female. The males may be 
seen or heard regularly for the next two to four weeks. 

Birds such as the prairie horned lark, killdeer, song spar- 
row, pheebe, bluebird, and robin are preparing to rear a 
second brood. ‘Two weeks ago their first nests were occupied 
with eggs that hatched before many of our summer residents 
had returned from the South. If we venture into the mead- 
ows, through the orchards, or to the woodlands, many fledge- 
lings are encountered. The parents are uneasy at our pres- 
ence, and manifest their displeasure by showing little fear 
in their efforts to protect their offspring. The flycatchers, 
vireos, and thrushes are now sitting upon their eggs. These 
birds usually rear but one brood during a season. 

The marshes are gradually drying up, and the few hol- 
lows which still contain water are attractive places for rails, 
herons, and bitterns. 

In July the goldfinches act as vivacious as most birds do 
in May. Thistle down, now floating in the air, is used as a 
lining for their nests, while they largely subsist on the thistle 
seeds. By the middle of July our graceful swallows have 
completed household duties and are congregating along the 
marshes and lakesides. Flocks of tree and bank swallows 
often mingle and move over the marshy sloughs, alighting 
at sundown on the telephone and telegraph wires. Few 
birds sing during the heat of the day except indigo bunt- 
ings, towhees, dickcissels, field sparrows, song sparrows, and 
robins. These birds are more domestic and prolific than 
swallows, and the duties of rearing a second family will con- 
sume the entire month. 


HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 19 


The bobolink is losing his gay coat of black and white 
and buff, and is preparing for a raid upon the southern rice 
fields, where he will travel under the disguise of “ricebird.” 
Less capable of flight while shedding his feathers, he retires 
to cornfields to molt, where he is afforded an unobstructed 
view on all sides as a protection against natural enemies. 

August is the general month for molting. About the 
only birds demonstrative about nest-building at this late date 
are some of the goldfinches and cedar waxwings. Many of 
the latter have remained in flocks through the entire winter, 
spring, and early summer, but are now busy nest-building 
in some isolated orchard, shade tree, or evergreen. A walk 
through the timber, along the water-courses, and over fields 
will disclose little bird-life, as birds are naturally shy and 
evasive while molting. Their flight, even, is defective, so 
they remain within the shelter of heavy grass or brush. We 
may see a dozen wood ducks about some little lagoon or 
wooded lake, probably two adults and their offspring. Wood- 
peckers may be seen moving about in families, two redheaded 
woodpeckers guiding four or five immature birds which have 
not attained the scarlet headgear. Only during the early 
hours of morning do the birds show any animation. At that 
time we occasionally hear the song of a catbird, the call of 
a cuckoo, the note of a pewee, and the mellow twitter of a 
goldfinch as he darts back and forth, singing at every dip of 
his undulating flight. 

This is a good month to examine and collect birds’ nests. 
They have not long been exposed to the weather, because the 
foliage is still on the trees. Many nests are kept in their 
proper shape only by removing the twig, stem, or limb to 


20 BIRDS 


which they are attached. The weather is still more or less 
sultry, but we may venture into the damp or dark places 
without the annoyance of mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects 
which are so numerous during June and July. 

With the arrival of September we see many new forms 
about our shade trees, gardens, and groves. They are not 
usually our summer residents in different plumage, but birds 
from a more northerly latitude. The warblers have begun 
their annual southward journey. Along the pebbly beaches 
and sandy shores hundreds of little waders are moving about 
in a systematic search for aquatic life. Many of them are 
marked differently than they were five months ago. During 
the interval they have visited the tundras and barrens about 
the Arctic Ocean, deposited their four eggs, reared their 
young, and are now feasting as they move by degrees to the 
South. Three months from now some of them will be hun- 
dreds of miles south of the equator. 

Owls seek more open situations at this time of the year. 
They realize that the territory is populated by transients, and 
the time is to be improved by hunting in the open, where 
smaller forms of bird-life are so much in evidence. It is still 
possible to find an occupied nest of the goldfinch or cedar 
waxwing, though undoubtedly the birds have been accident- 
ally delayed. The male goldfinch is losing his brilliant coat 
of black and yellow and is assuming a covering of dull 
greenish-black not unlike his mate. Great flocks of black- 
birds, comprising red-wings, rusty blackbirds, and cowbirds, 
forage in the marshes and descend upon the grain fields. 
The graceful little terns called seagulls are moving leisurely 
southward along water-courses. 


HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 21 


On the upland prairies large flocks of golden plover are 
feeding on wild berries, grasshoppers, and crickets. The 
birds have lost the handsome black breasts and there is 
nothing about their appearance to identify them, save their 
clear mellow whistle, or call-note, which they use when mov- 
ing swiftly in compact flocks over our uncultivated land. 
As Helen Hunt Jackson says: 


“October the month of carnival of all the year, 
When Nature lets the wild earth go its way, 
And spend whole seasons on a single day.” 


With the fall or turning of the leaves in October we 
lose our insectivorous birds. Belated warblers are hurrying 
southward and occasionally a phoebe may be seen lingering 
about the nesting place, loath to leave the little bridge or 
old well with its past associations. As we walk through 
the dead leaves of the woodlands, willow, olive-backed, and 
hermit thrushes are startled from the ground and fly to the 
nearest branch of some leafless tree. Small flocks of white- 
throated, fox, or white-crowned sparrows are busily feeding 
in the fence corners. The junco has returned from the Cana- 
dian provinces and will remain with us until a mantle of 
snow forces him to seek food elsewhere. 

Golden and ruby-crowned kinglets moving in company 
with brown creepers comprise a fearless trio while inspect- 
ing the trees on our lawns and in our parks. The little 
kinglets look twice as large as they did last April, the 
fluffed feathers offering more resistance to the October chill. 
The frosted vegetation in sloughs and bayous now exposes 


22 BIRDS 


many a gallinule, coot, and rail, where many are shot by 
pot-hunters lacking in sportsmanship. 

The large cities are revisited by various forms of sea 
birds, providing there is a water frontage. During the late 
fall, winter, and spring months Bonaparte’s, herring, and 
ring-billed gulls visit the shores of lakes and rivers, espe- 
cially when these waters are navigable, to procure the 
refuse. Wilson’s snipe is again on the marsh, where his 
flight taxes the skill of the best gunners. 

November leaves us with a limited variety of birds, most 
of which are found in flocks. Robins still loiter in sheltered 
places and the hardy meadow-lark lingers about his favorite 
pasture. On a bleak morning we hear his merry chipper, 
which seems a protest against snow and ice. Flocks of 
mallards gorge themselves in the cornfields. The birds are 
then prepared for a continuous flight of two thousand miles, 
though they defer such journey as long as they can find 
open water nearer. We have the mallard with us from 
October to late in December. With January comes a gen- 
eral freeze-up of his feeding grounds, so he moves just far 
enough south to return at the first thaw in February. Many 
mallards reach Canada in March. Fifty years ago we had 
this noble game bird with us at least eleven months in the 
year. Great flocks of prairie chickens are now roaming the 
cornfields. Families have combined with others and these 
flocks join larger ones until hundreds of birds have banded 
together so to remain until April. 

Field and tree sparrows are sheltered along the road- 
sides in the thickets and about truck gardens. <A few large 
hawks, such as the red-tailed, goshawk, and rough-leg, are 


HOW TO STUDY THE BIRDS 23 


in evidence. The two latter are migratory, but often spend 
the winter with us. The rough-leg is sluggish, his habits 
reminding one of an owl. The little screech owl calls weirdly 
through the long nights of November, when other bird voices 
are hushed. December causes the crows to “hustle for a 
living.” Rather than migrate during severe weather they 
sometimes starve. One good word may be said here in behalf 
of the crow; he has never been known to eat the remains of 
his own kind, nor does he attempt to fight with his fellow 
birds over some morsel which he may have chanced to 
acquire. 

This is a good time to set up a little “free lunch coun- 
ter” for the birds by nailing a board to your window-sill or 
nearby tree. You will undoubtedly make friends with sev- 
eral sociable birds. Place a generous amount of corn, bread 
crumbs, and suet on this shelf, or the latter, if preferred, 
may be tied to a limb. Downy woodpeckers and white- 
breasted nuthatches are very fond of suet, and the nuthatch 
will usually prevail upon some chickadee to visit the same 
eating-place. Occasionally a bluejay or English sparrow 
will steal the larder intended for the other birds, thus jus- 
tifying one in shooting them on sight. 

Visit the woods on a cold December morning when snow 
is on the ground. You will be surprised at the friendliness 
of the chickadee. He even alights upon your head or shoul- 
der, and will readily eat bread crumbs from your hand. 


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CHAPTER II 
SUGGESTED EXERCISES IN GROUPING BIRDS 


Birps oF THE Dooryarp 


BuivuEsay, mocking-bird, house wren, robin, English spar- 
row, chipping sparrow, and chimney swift. 


Brrps Tuat FEED oN THE GrouND 


The various grouse, also the plover. In addition to 
which we might add the roadrunner, mourning dove, bobo- 
link, meadow-lark, horned lark, fox sparrow, English spar- 
row, dickcissel, crow, towhee, and brown thrasher. 


Birps Tuar Freep Amone THE Fouisce or TREES AND BUSHES 


The cuckoos, scarlet tanager, blue-gray gnatcatcher, and 
the kinglets. 


Birps Tuat Frerep on Trunks or TREES 


All the various woodpeckers and sapsuckers; in addition, 
we may add the black and white warbler, brown creeper, 
titmice, nuthatches, and chickadees. 


Birps Tuat FEED on THE WING 


This comprises the swallows, including the purple mar- 
tin; also the nighthawk and its relatives, the red-headed 
woodpecker, the ruby-throated humming-bird, cedar wax- 
wing, the various flycatchers and vireos, and the terns. 

25 


26 BIRDS 
Birps TuHat Freep ArouND THE EpcE or Poous AND LAKES 


The various snipe, sandpipers, plovers, except the 
upland plovers; also woodcock, Louisiana water-thrush, and 
dipper. 


Birps Tuat Freep spy Wapinc 


The various herons, rails, and bitterns, with their near 
relatives; also the flamingo, the white ibis, the roseate spoon- 
bill, the yellow-legs, and the long-billed curlew. 


Binps Tuat Frep WHILE SWIMMING IN SHALLOW WaTER 


The various river ducks; also Canada goose, Wilson’s 
phalarope, and avocet. 


Birps Tuat Freep py Divine ror FisxH 


Include the loons, the grebes, the murres, the tufted 
puffin, cormorant, osprey, belted kingfisher, and the mer- 
gansers. 

Birps Tuat Freep on Mammats 


The shrikes, owls, and hawks. 


Birps THat Freep on Carrion 


The gulls, kittiwake, vultures, crows, raven, and magpie. 


Birps TuHat Lay Wuite Eces 


As a rule all birds that nest in hollow trees or in deep 
burrows, where the eggs remain in the dark, lay white eggs. 
Following is a partial list: double-crested cormorant, white 
pelican, hooded merganser, bluejay, Canada goose, Wilson’s 


EXERCISES IN GROUPING BIRDS 27 


petrel, tufted puffin, various owls, bald eagle, passenger 
pigeon, mourning dove, various woodpeckers, belted king- 
fishers, bob-white, quail, phoebe, least flycatcher, goshawk, 
Carolina parakeet, purple martin, tree swallow, short-billed 
marsh wren, and ruby-throated humming-bird. 


Brirps Tuat Do Nor Construct or Usr Any NEst 


Brunnich’s murre, turkey vulture, black vulture, whip- 
poor-will, and nighthawk. 


Birps Tuat Lay Tuer Eccs 1x Hottows or Nests Constructep 
BY OTHER SPECIES 


Horned owl, screech owl, burrowing owl, barred owl, 
saw-whet owl, sparrow hawk, wood duck, hooded-merganser, 
bufflehead, American merganser, golden eye, cowbird, house 
wren, and tree swallow. 


Brrps Wuicu Are Resipent TuHrovucHout THE YEAR IN a GIVEN 
LocaLity 


The various grouse, crow, bluejay, Canada jay, Clark’s 
nutcracker, the nuthatches, downy woodpecker, screech owl, 
horned owl, barred owl, the eagles, chickadees; some of the 
resident birds migrate for a short distance, so that in some 
cases, while we may have some species of bird throughout 
the year, it may be a different bird in winter and summer. 


Brirps Wir Conspicuous Rep or OrancE PLUMAGE 


This list is so easily compiled by consulting the pictures 
that no printed list is necessary. 


28 BIRDS 
Birpvs Tuat Are Wuirrt 
White-tailed ptarmigan, snowy owl, common tern, cas- 
pian tern, kittiwake, ring-billed gull, and snowflake. Are 


all these birds white in both winter and pumimcr’ Do they 
differ from albinos? 


Species Wuicu Are Famous as Game Binns 


The various ducks, including the Canada goose, plovers, 
snipes, and sandpipers, including woodcock, and grouse. 


Sweetest Sone Birps 
Thrushes, including the veery and robin; also the dipper 
and brown thrasher, mocking-bird, ruby-crowned kinglet, 
rose-breasted grosbeak, the wrens, indigo bunting, meadow- 
lark, bobolink, the sparrows, purple martin, Maryland yel- 
low-throat, and yellow-breasted chat. 


Brrps Wirx Crests anp Torxnots 


This is so easily compiled that no list is necessary. 


Birps Freaventinc Barns anp OUTBUILDINGS 


Purple martin, barn swallow, pheebe, and cliff swallow. 


Bmps Tuat Live in Our OrcHarps 
Flicker, bluebird, orchard oriole, mourning dove, cedar 
waxwing, yellow-billed and black-billed cuckoos, and red- 
eyed vireo. 
Brrvps THat Frequent THE TREES AND UNDERBRUSH ALONG THE 
Roapsmmes AND DRIVEWAYS 


Baltimore oriole, kingbird, brown thrasher, loggerhead 
shrike, and least flycatcher. 


EXERCISES IN GROUPING BIRDS 29 
Birps FreavueNtTING NEGLECTED Frietps anp WeEEpD PatTcHEs 

Slate-colored junco, tree sparrow, vesper sparrow, dick- 

cissel, and goldfinch. 
Birvs Tuat Live 1s Our Meapows snp Pastures 

Lark sparrow, grasshopper sparrow, bob-white, meadow- 

lark, cowbird, and bobolink. 
Birps Inwazitinc Upranp Prairies 

Horned larks, prairie hen, upland plover, Savanna spar- 

row, Smith’s longspur, and burrowing owl. 
Birps Tuat Live on THE TirmBereD HItisipEs 


Red-headed woodpecker, crow, red-tailed hawk, screech 
owl, whip-poor-will, warbling vireo, red-bellied woodpecker, 
and scarlet tanager. 


Birps Partiat To Berry BusHes, SapLtincs aND SMALL WiLLows 


Indigo bunting, yellow warbler, song sparrow, field 
sparrow, fox sparrow, traill’s flycatcher, golden-crowned 
kinglet, and towhee. 


Birps Tuat Are Partial TO EVERGREENS 


Bronzed grackle, pine warbler, cross-bills, blackburnian 
warbler, bay-breasted warbler, blue-headed vireo, and pine 
grosbeak. 


Birvs Tuat Haunt Damp Grassy Puaces 


Maryland and western yellow-throat, marsh wrens, 
swamp sparrow, and short-eared owl. 


30 BIRDS 
Birps Inuasitinc Damp UNDERBRUSH 

Woodcock, yellow-breasted chat, cardinal, rose-breasted 

grosbeak and redstart. 
Birps or Damp Woopianps 

Yellow-bellied flycatcher, olive-sided flycatcher, ruffed 
grouse, wood pewee, veery, wood thrush, black and white 
warbler, and ovenbird. 

Birps Freaventinc Our TimsBerep LAKEs 

Wood duck, hooded merganser, loon, tree swallow, 
crested flycatcher, Canada jay, and osprey. 

Birps Freauentinc Trees ALonc STREAMS AND LAKES 


Horned owl, sparrow hawk, prothonotary warbler, 
downy woodpecker, belted kingfisher, Louisiana water 
thrush and chickadee. : 


Birps Livine Azsout Oren Ponps anp Grassy SLoucHs 
Marsh hawk, mallard, blue-winged teal, pied-billed grebe 
and black tern. 
Birps Tuat Innasir Oren Swamps anv Boes 


King rail, sora rail, Virginia rail, coot, Florida gallinule, 
bittern, least bittern, red-winged blackbird, yellow-headed 
blackbird, long-billed marsh wren, and black-crowned night 
heron. 


Binps Freaventine Our Sanpy SHORES AND GRAVEL BEACHES 


Spotted sandpiper, killdeer, piping plover, black-bellied 
plover, common tern, willet, and sanderling. G. A. A. 


CHAPTER III 
DIVING BIRDS 


Srx species of Grebes, or Lobe-footed Divers, are found 
within the limits of North America. Grebes are so aquatic 
that they seldom venture upon the land, where they are 
almost helpless, resting on the entire tarsus instead of toes. 
They dive and swim with such skill that they were able to 
escape the shot by “diving at the flash” of the muzzle-load- 
ing shotgun formerly in use. Various popular names are 
applied to show the skill of these birds in diving; they can 
swim with only the tip of the bill above water. They 
subsist largely on fish, which they are able to capture under 
the water, propelling the body by feet alone. The nests of 
the grebes are masses of decayed vegetation, which the birds 
gather beneath the water and arrange among the growing 
vegetation by anchoring to aquatic plants so that the nests 
rise and fall with the water. 

The Loon family comprises five species in the Northern 
Hemisphere, three being found in the Great Lakes region. 
They are almost as aquatic as are the grebes. They visit 
the land only to nest, at which time they move by using the 
bills, wing, and feet, nesting so near shore as to slide noise- 
lessly into the water. ‘They capture fish, as do the grebes, 
by pursuing under water, progressing by means of feet 
alone. 

The Murres, Puffins, Dovekies belong to the family 

31 


32 BIRDS 


Alcidae, which numbers thirty species, all found in the 
Northern Hemisphere, most of them on the Pacific Coast. 
They pass most of their lives on the open sea. They nest 
in colonies, vast numbers frequenting cliffs. On land they 
are slow and awkward, but are good fliers, swimmers, and 
divers. In pursuing fish beneath the water they use wings 
as well as feet. Many of these lay but one egg. 


HORNED GREBE 


The Horned Grebe, often called Hell Diver, Die-dap- 
per, or Water Witch, is frequently mistaken for the pied- 
billed grebe. A bird of central North America, occurring 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it is a common migrant 
in the Great Lakes region. It nests in northern Minnesota 
and in the lagoons of Manitoba and Alberta, and is found 
in the Devil’s Lake region of North Dakota. 

In 1900, while camping at Sweetwater Lake, North 
Dakota, I found holboells, pied-billed, and horned grebes 
inhabiting the grassy sloughs along low prairies. In the 
regions about the shores of the lakes one thousand western 
grebes were breeding in company with five hundred eared 
grebes. In general appearance and size horned and eared 
grebes are quite similar, the eared being the western form. 
While wading about among these floating nests of the 
grebes, the birds would dive, striking against my boots as 
they moved about beneath the water. 

The notes of the grebes are shrill and penetrating, 
reminding one of the constant trilling of frogs and toads 
in the marshes in early spring. When hundreds of grebes 


eS eK oN GED AMERICAN EARED GREBE COPYRIGHT 1900, BY 
(Colymbus nigricollis californicus.) Pree 
14 Life-size 


> 
’ 


DIVING BIRDS 33 


are calling constantly during the night, the sound is weird, 
but so in keeping with the desolate country as to be scarcely 
noticeable after a few days. It is an even tone pitched in 
a high key like the strident tones of a locust. 

The birds lay from four to nine bluish-white eggs, which 
they cover with decaying vegetation, which soon stains them. 
When the eggs are thus covered the heat from the sun’s rays 
and the decay of the vegetation produce a warmth sufficient 
to incubate the eggs without the presence of the bird; the 
grebes, however, often sit upon their nests, or at least 
remain close, to guard their treasures. When the young 
are hatched they may be seen riding on the backs of the 
old birds in the open water, but usually close to cover. At 
the approach of danger the old bird dives like a fish and 
arises to the surface many yards away, with the little fellows 
still clinging on. 

PIED-BILLED GREBE 


The Pied-billed Grebe, commonly called Hell-diver, 
Die-dapper, Dabchick, Water Witch, is often mistaken for 
the horned grebe. It ranges from Argentine Republic north 
to Hudson Bay and Great Slave Lake, breeding throughout 
the range. 

Grebes are unexcelled as divers, as they swim and dive 
like a fish, and reach a depth of five or six fathoms. They 
are the most aquatic of all North American birds found in 
the interior, but are helpless on land, unable to walk or rise 
on the wing. Like other grebes, they rest on the tarsus 
while on land, as shown in plate. The toes are not con- 
nected by a web, as in the ducks, but each toe is equipped 


34 BIRDS 


with separate lobes, enabling the birds to propel themselves 
through the water, either on or beneath the surface, with 
great rapidity. ‘They have no tail feathers. 

The floating nest of decaying vegetation is anchored to 
the reeds or rushes in from one to five feet of water. The 
birds obtain the material for these floating nests from the 
bottom of the lakes and marshes where the nest is situated. 
It is estimated that the birds make two hundred trips below 
the surface to obtain the required amount of nesting mate- 
rial. The pied-billed arrives in the Great Lakes region in 
April, and may remain to breed around the lagoons and 
lakesides of Illinois and Indiana. A few pairs nest within 
the city limits of Chicago. 

The writer’s collection contains a nest of nine eggs taken 
June 18, 1902, in Cook County, Illinois. The eggs of all 
the grebes are immaculate when laid, but soon become badly 
nest-stained. 

LOON 


The Loon, or Great Northern Diver, is migratory 
through northern Illinois, although a few formerly bred 
in the Fox Lake region. Michigan and Wisconsin are 
favorite summer resorts for the loon, and many pass north- 
ward into Canada to breed. During the spring and fall 
loons abound on the Great Lakes, and are frequently caught 
in fish nets or on set lines which have been baited with 
minnows. One pair of loons usually reign supreme on each 
little inland lake among the northern woods. 

They usually migrate by night, flying high. During 
the breeding season their weird notes echo among the pines 


ee 


LOON 


196 


IFFIN, 


COPYRIGHT 19( 


/) 


5 


DIVING BIRDS 35 


when all else is still. The ery of the loon is not unlike an 
outburst of maniacal laughter, hence we frequently hear 
the expression, “crazy as a loon.” Like the grebes, the 
loons are practically helpless when on land, but are excel- 
lent swimmers and divers and strong direct fliers. 

The nest is constructed near the water, often on a par- 
tially submerged muskrat house. Sometimes the two large 
eggs are laid on the bare sand or gravel just above the 
water’s edge, so that it is possible for the parent to slip 
quietly from her nest into the water and swim rapidly to 
the farther side without exposing even the head. The eggs 
are dark olive green, spotted and blotched with brown. 


TUFTED PUFFIN 


The Tufted Puffin is a western species living on the 
Pacific Coast from California to Alaska. It also frequents 
the opposite shores of the same ocean, occurring in con- 
siderable numbers from Japan to Bering Strait. Four 
varieties of puffin are found in America. 

The bills of the puffin are short, stout, and extremely 
broad vertically, with little horizontal width. The upper 
mandible projects beyond the lower, producing a resem- 
blance to the parrot. A peculiar comb-like excrescence 
forms on bill at nesting time, a sex mark. The general 
color of the bird is black with a conspicuous white-faced 
mask; the long flowing yellow ear tufts are curved inward 
like the horns of a ram. 

Aside from the gulls and terns, puffins are probably the 
uneasiest birds about their breeding grounds. When not 


36 BIRDS 


excitedly moving about the rocks, they are generally utter- 
ing their piercing notes, often more shrill than the 
scream of the gull. When the birds enter their burrows 
they may be heard uttering a sound not unlike a disturbed 
feline. 

Puffins are sociable birds, found in the uninhabited por- 
tions of our sea coasts, where they deposit their single white 
egg in burrows. Both male and female assist in incubation. 
From the burrow containing the downy young the old bird 
may be removed with the hand, when the nestling is usually 
found clinging by the bill to the wing or tail feathers of 
the parent. 

MARBLED MURRELET 


Marbled Murrelets, as the name implies, are diminutive 
murres. There are several varieties, all making their homes 
on the Pacific Ocean, usually on the islands. Large num- 
bers of this species are observed at Sitka, Alaska, and they 
inhabit the Aleutian Islands, where they reach their north- 
ern limit at their breeding grounds in this chain of remote 
islands, while the southern range is as far southward as 
Vancouver Island and the coast of British Columbia. They 
fly rapidly and swim and dive like a grebe, but seldom 
alight except in rocky places, where it is possible for them 
to launch into the air and eventually return to the water, 
for the legs of these birds are set so far back upon the body 
as to make them extremely awkward on land. 

The eggs are deposited in holes made in the turf or sod 
overhanging the brow of a cliff. One and sometimes two 
eggs are laid. 


*OZIS-OIIT % Inoqy 


ODYDIHD "OHOIWNW MM ¥ (Csnj eroutreur snydureiAyorig) 
AG "106i LHDIMAdOO 


968 
LOTHYUOW GaTauVvA 


*@3ON3I08 “GVO¥ "IHD “109 woud 


BRUNNICHS MURRE. 
Life-size 


DIVING BIRDS 37 


BRUNNICH’S MURRE 


Brunnich’s Murre ranges through the islands and along 
the coast of the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. 

Murres are aquatic birds and, like the auks and puffins, 
are eminently gregarious. This species is the only variety 
that reaches the interior of North America, as occasionally 
specimens are observed on the Great Lakes, where they 
have evidently strayed out of their course, perhaps have 
been carried from the sea coast by inclement weather. These 
birds are found usually on the Atlantic Coast from New 
York northward to the Arctic regions. Murres inhabit the 
islands throughout the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Asia 
and Europe. 

In Europe they are robbed of their eggs for food. Each 
female deposits the single egg on the bare rocks, often 
without any protection from the elements. The eggs are 
remarkably well adapted to their surroundings, as they are 
thick-shelled, long and pointed, so that when disturbed the 
eggs do not roll off the cliffs, but simply describe the are of 
a circle. Hundreds of birds may be found incubating within 
a radius of one hundred yards, sitting peaceably side by side 
in their congested quarters. 

The eggs show marked variations; some are green with 
large black markings, others are pure white, still others are 
yellow with chocolate scrawls. This great variation in 
coloration may enable each bird to recognize her own egg. 
Clouds of birds may be seen circling not far from some huge 
rugged rocks jutting out into the raging sea, while uttering 


38 BIRDS 


« 


a syllable which sounds exactly like 
they take their name. 

These birds have many natural enemies, among them the 
various gulls, which have a habit of destroying the eggs 
whenever the parents are forced to leave them. These 
beautiful but thieving gulls actually carry these immense 
eggs in their mouths, flying to some remote part of the 
island or rocks, where they puncture the shell and devour 
the contents. In spite of enemies and in spite of the single 
egg laid, like so many of the diving birds, they maintain 
their numbers until killed off by man. 


‘murre,” from which 


DOVEKIE 


The Dovekie, commonly called Sea Dove or Little Auk, 
is a little fellow with short bill and legs, inhabiting the 
Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of St. Lawrence northward. 
Dovekies probably do not breed south of Greenland; in 
winter they occur in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and 
Labrador, becoming abundant off Exeter Sound and along 
the west coast of Baffin Bay. 

Probably the most accessible breeding grounds are in 
Iceland. Many European bird lovers find that northerly 
spot much more accessible than any similarly located place 
to be reached from either side of the American continent. 
Iceland is a veritable bird paradise. Myriads of gulls, sea 
ducks, shore birds, and boreal land birds, such as the ptar- 
migan, gyrfaleon, and finches, haunt the bleak regions of 
this island. The dovekie deposits her single large pale- 
greenish-blue egg in crevices of the sea cliffs, 


PYR 


co 


DOVEKIE. 


FROM COL, CHI. ACAD, SCIENCES, 


404 


(Alle alle.) 


: Life-size 


CHAPTER IV 
LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 


Guuts and Terns belong to one family; about forty species 
of the one hundred known are found in North America. 

Gulls are maritime and pelagic, though some are found 
inland. Gulls are larger and stronger than terns, though 
less graceful and active on the wing. The bills point for- 
ward and not downward in flight. They get food largely 
by skimming it from the surface of the water, or take it 
from the land, and do not plunge for it, as do the terns. 
They are largely scavengers, though some feed on small 
mammals and eggs and the young of other birds. Better 
swimmers than the terns, they spend more time resting on 
the water; they nest in colonies, usually on ground, some- 
times on rocky ledges, and rarely in trees. 

Terns visit the shores of salt and fresh water, especially 
salt. They are often called sea swallows because of their 
strong, graceful flight. They plunge after fish; in flight the 
bills point downward. 

The order Tube-nosed Swimmers contain the greatest 
fliers. Petrels are closely allied to albatrosses, shear-waters, 
and fulmers. Petrels are pelagic, visiting land only to nest. 
They are strong, graceful fliers, and are noted for following 
ships. 

Cormorants and Pelicans belong to the order of Totopal- 
mate Swimmers, as all four toes are united by web. The 

39 


40 BIRDS 


cormorants are found in all parts of the world, ten of the 
thirty species being found in North America. The double- 
crested cormorant is the most common in the United States. 
While usually maritime, some frequent bodies of fresh 
water. ‘They are gregarious, often breeding in colonies. 
Flight is strong and duck-like, near the surface of the water, 
except when migrating. They dive for fish from the water, 
or dive from perch like the kingfisher, but not from the air. 

Three species of pelican are found in North America, 
only one of which is found in the interior. Pelicans are 
gregarious, nestling in colonies. Their flight is strong but 
leisurely, several wing strokes being followed by a short 
sail; all birds of a flock flap wings and sail in unison. The 
peculiar feature is the large pouch used as a scoop-net in 
catching fish. Some species plunge for food, while others 
use the pouch while swimming. 


KITTIWAKE 


This medium-sized gull is supposed to take its name 
from the note, which is the shrill “‘ Kit-ti-wake.” Almost 
exclusively a seagull, we rarely meet with this species on 
our large inland lakes. They are boreal, and Mr. Peary, 
our Arctic explorer, found them breeding abundantly on 
the coasts of Greenland. They are common to the Atlantic 
waters of both Europe and America. In winter and early 
spring the ery of the kittiwake echoes along the rocky shore 
of the New England coast. 

They do not nest upon the ground, like most other gulls, 
but resort to the rocky and almost inaccessible cliffs over- 


HICAGO 


MUM 


BY A. W 


COYPRIGHT 1904, 


KITTIWAKE. 


FROM COL, CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES, 


Po 
un 
aie 
Zo 
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aH 
Ee 
ak 
4 
= 
= 


OZ1S-PJi'T P 


LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 41 


hanging the water. The famous Bird Rocks in the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence are probably the farthest south these birds 
breed, constructing substantial nests of grass and seaweed 
on inaccessible ledges. The ground color of the two or 
three eggs is yellowish buff or greenish gray marked with 
irregular spots of brown and lilac. 

Frequently the birds nest in very close proximity to each 
other, resorting annually to the same filthy, guano-covered 
rocks. The Pacific kittiwake, inhabiting the northern coast 
of Northern America, breeding in Alaska, is the western 
form. 

THE HERRING GULL* 


The American Herring Gull is found throughout North 
America, nesting from Maine northward and westward 
throughout the interior, on the large inland waters, and 
occasionally on the Pacific; south in the winter to Cuba and 
Lower California. This gull is a common bird throughout 
its range, particularly coastwise. Colonel Goss, in his Birds 
of Kansas, writes as follows of the herring gull: 

“In the month of June I found the birds nesting in 
large communities on the little island adjacent to Grand 
Manan; many were nesting in spruce tree tops from twenty 
to forty feet from the ground. It was an odd sight to see 
them on their nests or perched upon a limb, chattering and 
scolding as approached.” 

' The young gulls grow rapidly. They do not leave their 
nesting grounds until able to fly, though half-grown birds 
are sometimes seen on the water that by fright or accident 
have fallen. The nests are composed of grass and moss. 


42 BIRDS 


Some of them are large and elaborately made, while others 
are merely shallow depressions with a slight lining. Three 
eggs are usually laid, which vary from bluish-white to a 
deep yellowish brown, spotted and blotched with brown of 
different shades. In many cases where the herring gull has 
suffered persecution it has been known to depart from its 
usual habit of nesting on the open sea shore. 

It is a pleasure to watch a flock of gulls riding buoyanily 
upon the water. They do not dive, as many suppose, but 
only immerse the head and neck. They are omnivorous and 
greedy eaters, “scavengers of the beach, and in the harbors 
to be seen boldly alighting upon the masts and flying about 
the vessels, picking up the refuse matter as soon as it is 
cast overboard.” 


RING-BILLED GULL 


The Ring-Billed Gull ranges throughout North Amer- 
ica, being more common in the interior. 

Of all gulls, not excepting the herring, this bird is the 
commonest on the inland waters. The herring is more 
abundant on the Atlantic. The southern portion of the 
Great Lakes and the Mississippi River from Minnesota 
southward to St. Louis are the winter haunts of the ring- 
billed gull. They are more commonly found along rivers 
than formerly, soaring in great numbers about refuse which 
may be found even in remote sections, sometimes fifteen to 
twenty miles from any large body of water. 

During extremely cold winters the lagoons in our public 
parks sometimes freeze to the bottom: at the time of the 
spring thaw these birds feed on the frozen fish which are 


‘azIS-ayiy f 
DyoIH HOdWAN M “YAS 10061 LHDINAGO “TTOD SALUYVdIVNOd 


LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 43 


gradually exposed by the melting ice. They frequently rob 
other water birds, as a merganser or a grebe. As these 
divers rise to the surface with a fish, the gull, with a dex- 
trous swoop, seizes his prey and makes off with it. Some- 
times the gulls so gorge themselves as to be seen flying away 
with a half-swallowed fish protruding from the bill. The 
birds are highly useful as scavengers and destroyers of 
insects. 

Rude nests of hay, sticks, and grass are placed on the 
ground, usually on islands. Three buff, clay-colored eggs, 
spotted and blotched with brown, are laid in May. 


BONAPARTE’S GULL 


“This pretty little gull claims the whole of North Amer- 
ica as its home, although it nests only north of the United 
States, apparently not quite to the Arctic Circle. This 
species is often common near streams and small bodies of 
water, large enough to furnish their food of fish. The 
three acres of the Oberlin, Ohio, waterworks reservoir, well 
within the city, is visited each spring by flocks which feed 
upon the half-domesticated fish found there. I have often 
seen flocks of twenty or more birds passing over plowed 
fields during the vernal migration, sometimes even stopping 
to snatch some toothsome grub from the freshly turned fur- 
row, but oftener sweeping past in that lithe, graceful flight 
so characteristic of this small gull. 

“To the farm boy, shut in away from any body of water 
larger than an ice-pond, where no ocean birds could ever 
be expected to wander, the appearance of this bird, bearing 


44 BIRDS 


the wide freedom of the ocean in his every movement, is 
truly a revelation. It sends the blood coursing hotly 
through his veins until the impulse to get away into the 
broader activities of life, to see something of the wide land 
known to this winged creature, cannot be put down. 

“In flight they progress easily by continued leisurely 
wing strokes, each stroke seeming to throw the light body 
upward slightly as though it were but a feather’s weight. 
In flight the watchful eye is turned hither and thither in 
quest of some food morsel, which may be a luckless fish 
venturing too near the surface, to be snatched up by a deft 
turn of the wings and a sudden stroke of the keen bill. 
Floating refuse also is gathered from the surface of the 
water while the bird is resting. 

“It is only in the breeding plumage that this gull wears 
the slaty, plumbeous hood. It seems doubtful if the birds 
obtain the hood until the second or third year, when they 
are fully adult. But in any plumage there are some dark 
spots about the head. 

“The nest is placed in bushes, trees, or on high stumps, 
and is composed of sticks and grasses, with a lining of finer 
vegetable material. The three or four eggs have the gray- 
ish-brown color, spotted and blotched with browns, which 
is characteristic of this group of gulls.” 

Lynps JONES. 
CASPIAN TERN 


The Caspian Tern is the largest of the terns, and is read- 
ily recognized by the coral-red bill. Birds of wide range, 
they are extremely sociable, and not only nest in colonies, but 


ZIS-O}LT 
NM NVIdSVO 


LOG 


LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 45 


frequently in company with other long-winged swimmers, 
such as the herring gull or California gull. The Caspian 
terns frequently migrate at great heights and far from 
land, a course which they may pursue when traveling to 
their breeding grounds on the Atlantic or upper Lake 
Michigan, and thus their presence is little suspected by 
the casual observer in the Middle States. 

Until the Audubon Societies patrolled many of the 
islands lying off the American coast or on the large inland 
lakes the eggs of the Caspian tern were used for commercial 
purposes. Fishermen gathered them in great quantities, 
and the birds, loath to leave their favorite islands, would 
continue laying well into the summer months, until they 
finally became discouraged and would move to another 
locality. 

These birds present a beautiful sight as they circle over 
their eggs at the approach of some intruder, uttering their 
hoarse cries. Though web-footed and with an oily texture 
to the plumage, the birds seem more fond of flying than 
swimming. Their food consists of insects captured in the 
air and small fish which they capture by diving into the 
water while flying low over the surface. 

During the last eight years the birds have greatly 
increased in numbers through rigid enforcement of the 
plumage law forbidding the selling in America of feathers 
of native birds. Several large colonies of Caspian terns 
appear on the islands in the Gulf of Mexico. Other colonies 
have taken possession of the islands on fresh water lakes in 
Oregon. The eggs are usually deposited in small hollows 
on the beach just above high-water mark. No attempt at 


46 BIRDS 


nest-building is made. Two or three clay-colored eggs are 
laid, thickly spotted with brown of varying shades. 


THE FORSTER’S TERN * 


The range of Forster’s Tern may be considered as cover- 
ing North America in general, “breeding from Manitoba 
southward to Virginia, Illinois, Texas, and California.” In 
winter it passes southward into Central America and to 
Brazil. It is the common tern of the Mississippi Valley and 
is quite abundant on the larger inland waters as far north 
as Manitoba. It is far from common along the Atlantic 
Coast, excepting at Cobb’s Island, Virginia, where it breeds 
in numbers, though the individuals of this species were not 
as numerous as were those of the common or Wilson’s tern. 

In appearance, as well as in its habits, Forster’s tern 
resembles the common tern. The two species may, however, 
be distinguished by the color of the outer tail feathers, those 
of Forster’s tern having the inner webs darker colored than 
the outer webs, while the reverse is characteristic of the 
same feathers in the common tern. The two species may 
also be distinguished when on the wing by the peculiar 
grating note of the Forster’s tern, the sound of which has 
been likened by Dr. Ridgway to the “sonorous qua-a-a of 
the logger-head shrike.” 

Forster’s tern breeds in colonies and also in company 
with other terns and with gulls. Its nest, of flags and vari- 
ous water plants, is usually built in grassy marshes. The 
old birds are very watchful and carefully guard their nests, 
eggs, and offspring. When disturbed at their nests they 


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become very noisy, “uttering a grating, monotonous note. 
It is said that at times, in their frenzy they fly at an 
intruder, often approaching very close to his head. 

In the winter the plumage of this beautiful tern shows 
a decided change. The head becomes white, more or less 
spotted with black; the eye is enclosed by a large black 
area; the bill becomes black and the feet brownish. 


COMMON TERN 


The Common Tern, often called Wilson’s Tern, sea 
swallow, red shank, summer gull, and mackerel, is often 
confused with arctic tern and Forster’s tern. This beautiful 
little sea swallow was first reported by Wilson, one of our 
earliest ornithologists. Formerly abundant, this bird is now 
threatened with extinction unless protected from plumage 
and egg hunters. These terns perform extensive migra- 
tions, passing the winter months on the coasts of South 
America, often far below the equator. In summer they may 
be found breeding on the islands of the Great Lakes in 
company with herring gulls and Caspian terns. 

The birds are as agile on the wing as our barn swallow, 
and capture many flying insects. They also feed upon 
marine life, but refrain from playing the role of scavenger, 
leaving the gulls to devour any decaying animal matter. 

Hundreds of terns may be found nesting together, 
depositing their three eggs in a carelessly constructed nest 
of dry grasses on the pebbly beach or rocky projections just 
above high-water mark. Quite a commotion prevails when 
the naturalist intrudes upon their breeding grounds; the 


48 BIRDS 


birds rise like a cloud and fly about in majestic circles, 
screaming persistently until the trespasser leaves. 

Early in June three eggs are laid, varying greatly in 
shape and color; the background is light green, buffy or 
drab, spotted and blotched with various shades of brown 
and lilac. The young are able to care for themselves as 
soon as hatched. 


BLACK TERN 


The Black Tern, the only dark-plumaged member of the 
gull or tern family inhabiting the interior portions of North 
America, breeds from the Gulf of Mexico to upper Canada 
and from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, nesting even 
within the corporate limits of Chicago. 

While gregarious, they are found in smaller groups than 
most of our long-winged swimmers. Largely insectivorous, 
they capture their prey in the air. They also plunge into 
the water after small minnows and other marine life. 
Although the feet are webbed, these birds seldom swim, 
except, perhaps, when migrating across large bodies of 
water. Their call note is a harsh shriek, uttered incessantly 
if one intrudes upon their nesting sites, usually in marshy 
places, preferably open country free from timber. 

The nests are constructed of decayed vegetation, dead 
flags, and rushes, often a mere depression on a partially 
submerged muskrat house, containing two or three dark- 
yellowish eggs, heavily and thickly blotched with shades of 
lilac and very dark brown. These birds have a habit of 
rolling their eggs in the wet earth and vegetation, thereby 
rendering them less conspicuous. I have known the birds 


 ——————————————— 


AunoX pur iayjo 


LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 49 


to arrange a little nest on the top of an old grebe’s nest. 
Often the water is several feet deep where the nests are 
made, but the growing reeds and rushes allow the water to 
remain more or less stagnant, so the eggs are seldom 
disturbed by waves. 


WILSON’S PETREL 


The sailors have always harbored a friendly feeling for 
these sea-loving birds. They tell you that Mrs. Carey lives 
on the edges of the seas and the petrels are her chickens, 
hence they are frequently called Mother Carey’s chickens. 

Two species of petrel are common to the North Amer- 
ican coast. Probably at least a dozen other forms have been 
recorded on our continent, as the petrels are great wan- 
derers and frequently stray out of their course. The feet 
are webbed and the wings are long and powerful. The 
flesh is so oily that the plucked body of a petrel, supplied 
with a wick similar to that of a candle, will burn for over 
an hour. 

Petrels feed from the surface of the water, picking up 
food while swimming or while on the wing. They seem to 
delight in following vessels at sea to pick up the refuse 
matter thrown overboard as they fly close to the water. 
They also follow the breakers, often seizing an unfortunate 
crab or crawfish that is cast up by the waves. 

Wilson’s petrel resorts to islands in the Southern Hemi- 
sphere during the breeding season. The single white egg, 
sometimes faintly wreathed with dull lavender, is incubated 
at the end of a three-foot burrow. The tube-nosed swim- 


50 BIRDS 


mers lay but a single egg. When disturbed on their nests 
they emit an oily substance from their crops very disagree- 
able to the intruder. 


THE YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC BIRD * 


In appearance this bird resembles a large tern and its 
habits are similar to those of the terns. Intertropical, it is 
of a wandering disposition, breeding on the islands of mid- 
ocean thousands of miles apart. It is noted for its elegant, 
airy, and long-protracted flight. Davie says that on Bour- 
bon, Mauritius, and other islands east and south of Mada- 
gascar it breeds in the crevices of the rocks of inaccessible 
cliffs and in hollow trees. In the Bermuda Islands it nests 
about the first of May in holes in high, rocky places along 
the shores. Here its favorite resorts are the small islands 
of Great Sound, Castle Harbor, and Harrington Sound. 
The Phaeton, as it is felicitously called, nests in the Baha- 
mas in holes in the perpendicular faces of cliffs and on the 
flat surfaces of rocks. A single egg is laid, which has a 
ground color of purplish-brownish white, covered in some 
specimens over almost the entire surface with fine reddish 
chocolate-colored spots. 

These species compose the small but distinct family of 
tropic birds and are found throughout the tropical and sub- 
tropical regions of the world. Long journeys are made by 
them across the open sea, their flight when emigrating being 
strong, rapid, and direct, and immense distances are covered 
by them as they course undismayed by wind or storm. In 
feeding, Chapman says, they course over the water, beating 


a 


‘rom col. F, M. Woodruff. YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC BIRD. Copyrighted 1900 
(Phaeteon flavirostris.) A. W. Mumford, Chicago, 
1-4 Life-size. 


} 107 


ANHINGA OR SNAKE BIRD. 
1 2. 


, Life size 


LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 51 


back and forth at a height of about forty feet, and their 
long, willowy tail feathers add greatly to the grace and 
beauty of their appearance when on the wing. They are of 
rare and probably accidental occurrence on our coasts. 


THE ANHINGA OR SNAKE BIRD* 


The Snake Bird is very singular, indeed, in appearance, 
and interesting as well in its habits. Tropical and sub- 
tropical America, north to the Carolinas and southern 
Illinois, where it is a regular summer resident, are its 
known haunts. Here it is recognized by different names, 
as Water Turkey, Darter, and Snake Bird. The last men- 
tioned seems to be the most appropriate name for it, as 
the shape of its head and neck at once suggest the serpent. 
In Florida it is called the Grecial Lady; at the mouth of 
the Mississippi, Water Crow, and in Louisiana, Bec a 
Lancette. It often swims with the body entirely under 
water, its head and long neck in sight like some species of 
water snakes, and has no doubt more than once left the 
impression on the mind of the superstitious sailor that he 
has seen a veritable sea serpent, the fear of which led him 
to exaggerate the size of it. 

As a diver the snake bird is the most wonderful of all 
the ducks. Like the loon, it can disappear instantly and 
noiselessly, swim a long distance, and reappear almost in 
an opposite direction to that in which naturally it would be 
supposed to go. 

The nests of the anhinga are located in various places, 
sometimes in low bushes at a height from the ground of 


52 BIRDS 


only a few feet, or in the upper branches of high trees, but 
always over water. Though web-footed, it is strong enough 
to grasp tightly the perch on which it nests. This gives it 
a great advantage over the common duck, which can nest 
only on the ground. Sometimes snake birds breed in colo- 
nies with various species of herons. From three to five 
eggs, bluish or dark-greenish white, are usually found in the 
nest. 
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT 


Cormorants, sometimes called water turkeys, are similar 
in construction to our pelicans, but the loose skin on the 
throat is comparatively inconspicuous, while the pelican has 
a pouch capable of great distension. The sea coast of 
America, particularly the Pacific, is the home of many cor- 
morants of several varieties, but the double-crested is prac- 
tically the only inland species, occurring from Illinois and 
Towa northward into Canada during the breeding season. 
They are gregarious at all times, even nesting in colonies. 
Twenty-five years ago this large bird appeared in the river 
bottoms of the Illinois, but the timid creatures retire at the 
encroach of civilization. Cormorants have all four toes 
connected by a continuous web. The tail feathers are long 
and stiff, and the birds use this appendage in progressing 
underneath the water, where they capture fish. Like ducks, 
the cormorants in flight extend the neck and legs to their 
full length. 

Of the thirty varieties of cormorants inhabiting the 
globe, one-third are American. When disturbed the cor- 
morants fly at low altitudes, usually over the water. Their 


FROM COL. CHI, ACAD. SCIENCES. DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT PYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 
(Phalacrocorax dilophus) 
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LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 53 


bills are strong and decidedly hooked; this assists them in 
holding their prey. Unlike the gannets, cormorants do not 
dive from the air, but from the water or a low perch. 

On the barren islands of Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, 
the double-crested cormorant still nests in company with 
the ring-billed and herring gulls, Canada goose and white 
pelican. These islands are a paradise for the bird student. 
On approaching these densely populated areas the wary 
cormorants are the first to leave their nests. No sooner do 
they vacate their posts than the thieving gulls descend upon 
their nests and destroy their eggs. 

Cormorants incubate in relays and never vacate their 
nests except at the approach of man. In Canada, nests 
are frequently constructed in rocky places overlooking the 
water. The nests are of sticks, and contain from three to 
five chalky eggs with a covering showing faint blue. 


BRANDT’S CORMORANT 


Brandt’s Cormorant, the bird of our illustration, is 
found on the Pacific Coast from the State of Washington 
southward to Cape St. Lucas, at the southern extremity 
of Lower California. In its habits it is gregarious and 
collects in great numbers wherever its natural food of fish 
is plentiful. These flocks present a very odd appearance, 
and their long necks appear as numerous black sticks on 
the watery background. 

The nests are nearly circular when placed on top of 
the rocks, and are usually constructed of eel grass. They 
are generally placed in the most inaccessible places and 


54 BIRDS 


at vdrious heights above the surface of the water. The 
cormorants frequent the same locality from year to year, 
and experience considerable difficulty in constructing their 
nests because of the gulls, which frequently carry away 
the material as fast as it can be gathered. The young, 
when first hatched, are entirely devoid of plumage, and 
their skin resembles a “greasy, black kid glove.” It is 
said that the gulls feed upon these young birds. 

Mr. Frank M. Woodruff relates the following obser- 
vations, made during a recent trip to California. He says: 

“The Brandt’s cormorant is the common species win- 
tering in southern California. Like the California brown 
pelican and the surf ducks, only the juvenile birds are 
found in the bay close to the city of San Diego. The 
birds are perfect gluttons, and as I lifted it into the boat 
there dropped from the gular sack of one specimen that 
I shot over twenty small fish. The beautiful iridescence 
of the dark copper-green plumage of the adult cormorant 
can only be appreciated when the freshly killed bird is 
seen.” SetH MINDWELL. 


WHITE PELICAN 


This bird is common to entire temperate North Amer- 
ica. It is one of the largest of our waterfowl, inhabiting 
both fresh and salt water. Like the brown pelican, this 
species is decidedly gregarious. Professor Jones says: 
“The birds travel sixty miles to catch fish for themselves 
and young. They often vomit up the contents of their 
stomachs on the ground, where it quickly decays.” The 
stench of the rookeries is almost intolerable. 


AMERICAN WHITE 


(Pelecan 


LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS 55 


These birds summer at Great Salt Lake, Utah, and 
on several of the large inland lakes of Oregon. I noted 
a colony of approximately seventy-five birds at Sweet- 
water Lake, North Dakota. These are probably the only 
colonies which remain in the United States proper. Shoal 
Lake, Manitoba, is one of their favorite nesting and breed- 
ing grounds. 

The flight of the pelican is picturesque. Being heavy 
birds, they rise from the water with difficulty, using their 
feet in ascending. A flock of perhaps twenty-five birds 
will mount into the air during the heat of the day and 
circle about until they appear like mere specks against 
the sky. 

The plumage of the adult birds is pure white with the 
exception of a portion of the wing which is black, which 
color shows in marked contrast when the birds are soaring. 

Two or three eggs are deposited in a large, bulky nest 
of grass, sticks, and rubbish. The thick, white shells have 
a chalky texture, but are soon stained with nesting material. 


CHAPTER V 
DUCKS AND GEESE 


WE have three classes of ducks. The Mergansers, or Shell- 
drakes, are fish ducks. Both the upper and lower man- 
dibles are deeply notched with barbs, which enable the 
birds to capture fish while swimming with great rapidity 
beneath the surface of the water. 

Fresh Water, or Pond and River, Ducks possess broad 
strainer bills, and the fourth or hind toe is without any 
lobe. ‘These are the mallard, teal, shoveller, baldpate, pin- 
tail, wood duck, gadwall, and black duck. This family 
feed or dip in shallow water or wade about the margins 
of pools and ponds. They are all game birds, and are 
more edible than the deep-water ducks. 

Sea, or Deep-water, Ducks have a conspicuous flap on 
the hind toe. While possessing a strainer bill, they feed 
less upon vegetable life than the pond ducks, and are 
partial to small fish and other marine life. They occur 
both on the coasts and in the interior. The redhead, can- 
vas-back, scaup, bufflehead, old squaw, harlequin, eider, 
scoters, and ruddy ducks are all classed as sea ducks. The 
speculum, the bright feathers on the wing, is the same for 
all seasons and all ages of the same kind of ducks. 

Geese are larger than ducks, and more graceful upon 
land. They also differ from the ducks because the plu- 
mage of geese is practically the same in both sexes. 

57 


58 BIRDS 


RED-BREASTED MERGANSER 


The Red-breasted Merganser ranges throughout the 
northern part of North America, breeding from northern 
Illinois and New Brunswick to the Arctic regions, winter- 
ing from southern United States to Cuba. 

The red-breasted merganser inhabits Europe, Asia, and 
America, breeding on the British Isles, Iceland, Green- 
land, Labrador, Alaska, and the Magdalen Islands in the 
North Atlantic. During the fall, winter, and spring 
months they frequent the waters of northern Illinois and 
Indiana; in March and April they resort to the lagoons 
of Lincoln Park, Chicago, and feast upon fish, exhibiting 
at times but little fear of man. The bold, venturesome 
gulls lurk about the lagoons, and when a merganser arises 
with his prize, a gull swoops down and in the twinkling 
of an eye robs the duck of his morsel. The three mergan- 
sers, the red-breasted, American, and hooded, generally 
known as fish ducks, shelldrakes, or sawbills, frequent 
swift running streams, ponds, and lakes, where they feed 
almost exclusively upon fish, which they pursue and cap- 
ture under water. Their deeply barbed bills are especially 
adapted for catching and holding fish, which the birds 
bring to the surface before swallowing. 

The legs of all fish ducks are placed far back on the 
body, enabling their owners to outswim the other ducks. 
They frequently rest upon logs and stumps of trees found 
in or near the water. The hooded mergansers are the 
only sawbills whose flesh is at all palatable, and they are 


ASTE 


RED BRE 


2 Life-size 


ae 


HOODED MERGANSER COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICATCO 


, > Life-size 


DUCKS AND GEESE 59 


the handsomest of the tribe, the males rivaling the wood 
and harlequin ducks in beauty. So they are not only 
slaughtered by the sportsmen, but they are also sought 
by the taxidermist and plume hunter, consequently are 
becoming: scarcer. 

Among brushwood, boulders, and grass, near the water’s 
edge, often on islands, the female merganser constructs a 
bulky nest of grass, leaves, and stems, lined with a mod- 
erate quantity of down and feathers; from six to twelve 
dark drab eggs are laid, having a greenish or reddish tinge. 
The beautiful male deserts his mate while she incubates 
the eggs and cares for the young. 

Mr. Chamberlain says: “I paddled after a brood one 
hot summer’s day, and though several times they were 
almost within reach of my landing net, they eluded every 
effort to capture them. Throughout the chase the mother 
kept close to the young birds, and several times swam 
across the bow of my canoe in her efforts to draw my 
attention from the brood.” 


HOODED MERGANSER 


The Hooded Merganser ranges and breeds throughout 
America generally, wintering in Cuba and Mexico. It 
breeds only sparingly throughout the United States and 
southern Canada. Unlike most of our ducks, it is not 
gregarious at any season of the year. 

The hooded merganser is the smallest of the three fish 
ducks common to America. The males are handsome birds 
with a conspicuous black and white crest. Our first impres- 


60 BIRDS 


sion of a male hooded merganser is that of an extremely 
large-headed bird, so close and thick is the hood of white 
distinctly bordered with black. The hood disappearing 
after nesting season, it is then often mistaken for the red- 
breasted merganser. 

They feed by pursuing and capturing fish and other 
marine life beneath the water. They manifest a decided 
preference for fresh running water, and are regularly 
observed along the rivers of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, 
and Michigan. 

Like the other mergansers, the birds avoid the marshes 
during the breeding season, and select a hollow stub or log 
in which to deposit their eggs. Frequently this cavity is 
in a tree growing in or near a secluded spot along some 
woodland watercourse. Like the wood duck, the entrance 
to the nest appears too small to admit the bird’s body. The 
writer has witnessed a female merganser fly directly into 
a cavity containing her nest and eggs, without alighting at 
the entrance. 

The shell of the pure white eggs is extremely thick. 
The writer has thirteen taken in April in Montana. The 
bird had removed considerable down from her breast, and 
this was placed about the eggs, which enabled them to 
incubate during the absence of the parent. 


MALLARD 


The Mallard, or Greenhead, is a large, handsome duck, 
common during the migrations to all temperate North 
America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific; nesting usually 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 61 


in the northern United States and northward, wintering in 
southern United States. A few remain and breed about 
isolated sloughs in the prairie sections of Illinois and 
Indiana. The female has the same quack as that of our 
domestic duck, which has descended from the mallard and 
readily crosses with it. 

The mallard is distinctly a fresh-water duck, feeding 
usually by dabbling or dipping in shallow water. In the 
fall, great flocks of these birds descend upon the grain 
fields and gorge themselves. They are hardy birds, often 
remaining in the middle United States until late in Novem- 
ber, returning during the first thaw in February. It is 
abundant, and a great favorite with the sportsmen. 

Ten bluish-white eggs of this duck are in my collection, 
from Sweetwater Lake, North Dakota. They were taken 
June 11, 1900, from a nest of down and feathers, in a 
slight hollow of the earth, amidst a thick growth of under- 
brush extending out into the lake. 


BLACK DUCK 


The Black Duck, often called black mallard, black Eng- 
lish duck, and dusky duck, is similar in habits and size to 
our common green-head mallard; the latter, however, has 
a much wider range. The black duck is rare west of the 
Mississippi, occurring usually in the East, from the Atlan- 
tic Coast through the New England States, Quebec, Onta- 
rio, and along the east coast shores of Lake Michigan. 

They are among our slowest flying ducks, traveling 
about forty-five miles an hour, while teal and canvas-back 


62 BIRDS 


ducks attain a speed of one hundred miles an hour. Unlike 
most ducks, the plumage of the sexes is similar. 

The black duck often interbreeds with the common 
green-head mallard, but are less popular than the green- 
head as a game bird. The female quacks, and the male 
utters a low nasal note. These birds usually inhabit shal- 
low water, open marshes, little streams, and small fresh- 
water lakes. The winter range extends along the coast of 
Florida, the Gulf States, and the waters of Mexico. 

While breeding usually north of the United States, 
they are fairly common in the wet sections of Maine. Seven 
to twelve eggs are laid, varying in color from pure white 
to light green. The nests are placed in grassy spots close 
to the water, and lined with a liberal amount of dark down. 


THE GADWALL* 


The Gadwall, Gray Duck, or Creek Duck, has a very 
extensive range, including the temperate zones of both the 
eastern and western hemispheres. It inhabits the British 
Isles and breeds in Norfolk County, England. In Hol- 
land it is abundant, and in the fall is one of the most 
common ducks to be found in the market. 

In North America the gadwall is confined chiefly to 
the interior, and Florida and Georgia are the only States 
on the Atlantic Coast in which it occurs in any numbers. 
Along the Pacific Coast they are common residents of 
California. Many of these ducks pass the winter about 
the Gulf of Mexico, in Central America, and in the West 
Indies. It is quite common throughout Illinois, is rarer 


COPYRIGHT 1903 BY A. W. MUMFORD CHICAGO 


GADWALL. 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 63 


in Indiana, and in the upper and lower peninsulas of 
Michigan it is found in considerable numbers. It is likely 
to be found breeding anywhere within its range. 

The general appearance and habits of the gadwall are 
quite similar to those of the mallard, teal, and widgeon. 
The latter name (widgeon) is indiscriminately applied to 
the three species: the gadwall, the baldpate, or American 
widgeon, and the European widgeon. All three varieties 
inhabit both the old and new worlds. The females and 
immature birds of the three species are often confused with 
each other. This is especially true of the baldpate and 
European widgeon. 

The dress of the gadwall appears very sober when 
compared with our other ducks, the majority of which are 
noted for their beautiful plumage. 

Its food consists of both animal and vegetable matter, 
which is obtained from the surface of shallow lagoons and 
ponds. While feeding, the body is often partly submerged, 
as the birds probe about under the water. It seems to feed 
throughout the day. 

Authorities differ regarding the note of the gadwall, 
but in my experience I have found them rather silent, 
occasionally uttering a few shrill “quacks” similar in tone 
to that of the mallard. 


BALDPATE 


The Baldpate ranges throughout North America, breed- 
ing in the interior, from Minnesota northward, wintering 
in Central America and northern South America. 

The baldpate, or American widgeon, is a common spring 


64 BIRDS 


and fall migrant in the Mississippi Valley. Though less 
popular and conspicuous than many other game birds, it 
is a delicately marked species. 

The habits of these ducks are similar to those of the 
gadwall and teal; they enjoy mud flats and grassy ponds, 
feeding on vegetation, aquatic insects, and molluscs. Espe- 
cially fond of wild celery, but not good divers, they often 
procure it by snatching morsels from canvasbacks and 
other diving ducks, the instant their heads appear above 
the water. 

On June 18, 1900, while searching in the buck-brush 
on the bank of Sweetwater Lake, North Dakota, the writer 
flushed a female baldpate from a nest of nine beautiful 
flesh-colored eggs, well hidden in a quantity of down and 
leaves. 


GREEN-WINGED TEAL 


The Green-winged teal ranges throughout North Amer- 
ica, breeding from Minnesota northward, wintering from 
Kansas and Virginia southward to the West Indies and 
Central America. 

In size and general appearance, this duck closely resem- 
bles the blue-winged teal. The main difference is in color 
of speculum, or bright patch on wing; the habits, too, 
are similar. 

The range of the green-winged is more northerly than 
that of the blue-winged, which frequently nests in the 
central parts of the United States. The green-winged is 
one of our handsomest fresh-water ducks. It is capable 
of flying with the wind at a speed of one hundred miles 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 65 


an hour, the wings making a loud whistling noise. ‘They 
feed in shallow water or wade about the shores of our inland 
ponds and lakes. Being practically surface feeders, and 
living often on wild grass seeds of the marshes, their flesh 
is second to that of no other duck in tenderness and flavor. 

The green-winged remains in the Great Lakes region 
until the waters freeze, when our handsome blue-winged 
is many hundred miles farther south. It also reappears in 
the spring several weeks in advance of our other teals. The 
northern portions of central Canada are the favorite breed- 
ing grounds of this beautiful duck. Occasionally, how- 
ever, it remains in the famous wild-fowl region about 
Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. 

The writer has ten pale ashy-green eggs taken in North 
Dakota from a nest which was in a tussock of coarse grass 
on dry ground, but close to the water’s edge. 


THE BLUE-WINGED TEAL* 


So many names have been applied to this duck that 
much confusion exists in the minds of many as to which to 
distinguish it by. A few of them are blue-winged; white- 
face, or white-faced teal; summer teal, and cerceta comun 
(Mexico). It inhabits North America in general, but 
chiefly the eastern provinces; north to Alaska, south in 
winter throughout West Indies, Central America, and 
northern South America as far as Ecuador. It is accidental 
in Europe. 

The Blue-winged Teal is stated to be probably the 
most numerous of our smaller ducks, and, though by far 


66 BIRDS 


the larger number occur only during the migrations, indi- 
viduals may be found at all times of the year under favor- 
able circumstances of locality and weather. The bulk of 
the species, says Ridgway, winters in the Gulf States and 
southward, while the breeding range is difficult to make 
out, owing to the fact that it is not gregarious during the 
nesting season, but occurs scatteringly in isolated localities 
where it is most likely to escape observation. 

The flight of this duck, according to “Water Birds of 
North America,” is fully as swift as that of the passenger 
pigeon. 

The nests are generally well lined with down, and when 
the female leaves the nest she always covers her eggs with 
down and draws the grass, of which the outside of the 
nest is composed, over the top. Professor Kumlein does 
not think that she ever lays more than twelve eggs. ‘These 
are of a clear ivory white. They range from 1.89 to 1.95 
inches in length and 1.25 to 1.35 in breadth. 

The male whistles and the female “quacks.” 

The food of the blue-wing is chiefly vegetable matter, 
and its flesh is tender and excellent. It may be known by 
its small size, blue wings, and narrow bill. 

The hind toe of this family of ducks is without a flap 
or lobe, and the front of the foot is furnished with trans- 
verse scales. 


CINNAMON TEAL 


Cinnamon Teals range more southerly and westerly 
than our other teal. The flight of the cinnamon teal is 
probably more rapid than that of other waterfowl except 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 67 


the canvas-back and blue and green-winged teal. ‘These 
birds are prized by epicures, but fortunately they prefer 
mild climates, and many of them leave the haunts of the 
sportsman before the opening of the game season. 

The males are beautiful birds, having plumage unlike 
that of any other waterfowl. Cinnamon teals are found 
on both fresh and salt water, but retreat to clear pools and 
streams to breed. They breed commonly in California and 
the Salt Lake region of Utah. The nests are placed on 
dry ground, usually in a thick clump of grass; six to twelve 
cream-colored eggs are laid from May Ist to June 10th. 


SHOVELER 


The Shoveler, or Spoonbill, is a bird of wide distribu- 
tion, inhabiting all the continents and breeding in the north- 
ern portions of both hemispheres. It is a bird of striking 
individuality. The remarkable bill, the distinguishing fea- 
ture, broadens at the end until it exceeds twice the width 
of the base, and assumes a spoon shape. Like other pond 
and river ducks, it is most abundant about fresh water. 

It is a common summer resident of Minnesota and the 
Dakotas, thence it ranges northward through Manitoba, 
Assiniboia, and Alberta. During their semi-annual passage 
through Illinois, small flocks of shovelers are frequently 
seen on the Illinois and Kankakee rivers and on Lake 
Calumet. Usually they arrive from the south in March 
and by April the majority have paired, and soon move 
northward. In September and October its southern migra- 
tion takes place to southern United States; it may occa- 


68 BIRDS 


sionally be found in Cuba and South America in December 
and January. 

Sportsmen do not look on this duck with the same pride 
that they feel for a “bag” of canvas-backs or teal; yet the 
flesh of the spoonbill is considered delicious. 

The female’s note bears a resemblance to that of the 
mallard, an oft-repeated “quack.” It retires in May and 
June to the lakes and marshes, chiefly those of the interior, 
to breed. 


PINTAIL 


The Pintail ranges throughout North America, breed- 
ing from Iowa and Illinois to the Arctic Ocean; wintering 
from Virginia southward to the Greater Antilles and Cen- 
tral America. 

The gunner’s sprig, or spike-tail, is not easily decoyed, 
being always suspicious of men. The pintails arrive in the 
Middle States with the first spring thaw, often late in 
February. They are strong fliers, frequently covering 
eighty miles an hour. Fresh-water ducks and feeding in 
shallow places by dipping or dabbling, their mode of feed- 
ing would make them highly palatable were they inclined 
to fatten, but one rarely finds a fat pintail. The female 
has a distinct low quack. They move about with some 
ease on land, appearing less awkward than most ducks. 

The pintail resorts to the prairies of Minnesota, Dakota, 
and western Canada to breed. The nest is on a dry spot, 
sometimes a mile from water. The female scratches a 
hole in the earth and the eggs are deposited on a lining of 
dead grass, accompanied by a generous amount of down 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 69 


from the parent’s breast. Eight to eleven pale ashy-green 
eggs are laid. The young are led to the water by the 
parent as soon as they emerge from the shell. Occasionally 
this bird nests on the lonely prairie of Iowa, Illinois, and 
Nebraska. 

WOOD DUCK 


The range of the Wood Ducks is quite extensive, cover- 
ing temperate North America from Florida to Hudson 
Bay. 

“Few, if any, more exquisitely beautiful creatures have 
been fashioned in the workmanship of Nature than the wood 
duck of America,” are the words of Dr. Dawson, and to 
them we might add the words of Mr. Chapman: ‘“ Wood- 
land ponds and various border streams make a proper set- 
ting for the grace and beauty of this richly attired bird.” 
They do not quack, but have a pleasing and musical call — 
a sort of whistle. 

These birds perch upon branches of trees, and are fond 
of acorns. They are not solely dependent upon aquatic 
plants and animals or even upon food which is found upon 
the ground, but also eat flying insects and young buds. 

It seems too bad that because of unscrupulous hunters 
this gem of the woodland should be in danger of extermi- 
nation. ‘Then, too, the open season for ducks does not 
offer protection, as the hunting season opens before the 
southern flight of most waterfowl which nest in the far 
North has begun. Therefore, our summer ducks are for 
a time the only available game. 

They build their nests and seek their food in unfre- 


70 BIRDS 


quented woods near the water. Favorite nesting places are 
hollow branches of trees, an ol” woodpecker’s hole, or hol- 
low stump, preferring holes that overhang the water or are 
near it. They will, however, often accept sites away from 
the water, in which case the parent removes the young in 
her bill to the water as soon as they are hatched, but the 
young do not return to the nest. The writer has eight 
eggs taken at Long Lake, Minnesota, May 21, 1903. The 
hollow tree in which the eggs were laid was profusely lined 
with down and feathers. 


REDHEAD 


The Redhead looks like a canvas-back, and is often mis- 
taken for it; the difference is shown principally in shape of 
bill and upper head. 

The redhead, or porchard, is one of our gamiest ducks, 
occurring throughout temperate North America, chiefly 
from the Great Lakes region westward. These ducks 
arrive from the south early in March, on the way to Dakota 
and Manitoba, where they are comparatively abundant. 

The redhead decoys easily, but frequently feeds in large 
expanses of open water where the hunter is afforded no 
opportunity to approach within gunshot. The writer quotes 
the following from his article on “'The Nesting of the Red- 
head Duck”: 

“They are very aquatic in their nesting habits, more so 
than any others of their family, except the canvas-back or 
ruddy duck, in whose company they are often seen during 
the breeding season. I discovered fifteen nests during one 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 71 


June in the Devil’s Lake region in North Dakota. These 
nests were placed in tall grasses or reeds growing in water 
from one-half foot to three feet deep. In no instance were 
the eggs placed on the ground. The dry grass is massed 
together, forming a float, upon which the nest of practically 
the same material is placed. Frequently the birds construct 
a floating nest. It is a beautiful sight to observe the female 
as she leaves her nest, uttering a soft quack as she paddles 
out of sight among the tall grass.” 

Ten eggs taken June 3, 1900, were placed in a large 
nest containing one and one-half ounces of feathers and 
down, plucked from the breast of the parent bird. 'The 
down serves as a means of incubation during the duck’s 
absence. 


CANVAS-BACK 


Few game birds are more celebrated than the Canvas- 
back; sportsmen and epicures find that it meets their ideal 
of game qualities. It flies rapidly and with directness, dives 
quickly, swims rapidly, and is remarkably wary and alert, 
while its flesh is considered incomparably delicious by many, 
especially if the bird has been feeding on the “ water- 
celery,” an abundant fresh-water plant, and its favorite 
food. 

The canvas-back is peculiar to North America. Its 
nearest foreign relative is the red-crested porchard of 
Europe and Asia. The abundance of this noted game bird 
in the temperate regions is governed chiefly by the amount 
of water and the amount of “water-celery” found in any 
locality. It frequents both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts 


72 BIRDS 


during migration, but confines itself to the interior while 
breeding. It is rarely found in northern Illinois and Indi- 
ana, although a number of them have been taken at English 
Lake, Indiana; Fox Lake, Illinois, and also at Lake 
Koshkonong, Wisconsin. A few males were also observed 
. by the writer at Chillicothe, on the Illinois River. Its favor- 
ite food grows in all these waters. 

The canvas-back is fairly common throughout the Devil’s 
Lake region of North Dakota, where it nests with the red- 
head among the grassy sloughs and pot-holes, or on the 
borders of marshy lakesides. 

One of the first duck’s nests the writer ever found was 
that of a canvas-back, while searching for American bit- 
tern’s eggs, in the latter part of May, 1900, near Sweetwater 
Lake, North Dakota. 

The nest, about the size of a bushel basket, but with a 
much smaller capacity, was securely anchored to several 
large clumps of marsh grass, over water several feet deep. 
It was a bulky affair, consisting of dry grass and hay, 
sparsely lined with down and feathers. An incomplete set 
of four fresh eggs in the nest were partly concealed by the 
wary female, which had attempted to cover them with down. 

In Northwest Canada, the canvas-back nests abundantly 
in June, when it deposits from seven to twelve deep ashy- 
green elliptical eggs. Incubated eggs of this species, like 
the eggs of other Northern ducks, are usually surrounded 
by a quantity of down, plucked from the female’s breast. 
The down of the canvas-back is much darker than that of 
the redhead, the latter having a grayish-white down, and the 
canvas-back’s being slaty-gray or mouse-color. 


LESSER SCAUP DUCK. 


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A single nest is frequently found containing eggs of both 
canvas-back and redhead, but usually only one duck sits on 
the eggs. 


LESSER SCAUP DUCK 


The Lesser Scaup, Little Black-head, Little Blue-bill, 
Creek Broad-bill, Raft-duck, and Flocking-fowl, are some 
of the numerous names applied to this species. Three varie- 
ties of scaup ducks inhabit North America—the greater 
scaup, the lesser scaup, and the ring-necked scaup. When 
migrating, the lesser scaup frequents both fresh and salt 
water, but during the breeding season it is usually seen in 
the interior. 

In general appearance and habits, this duck resembles 
the great scaup, but averages one and one-half inches 
shorter. In many localities it is the most abundant duck; 
this is true of the Calumet region of northern Illinois and 
Indiana. The little scaup furnishes royal sport to the gun- 
ners, especially during October and April, being easily 
decoyed. 

Many lesser scaups, especially the males, linger on Lake 
Michigan six months in the year; in fact, this bird has been 
recorded monthly from January to December. 

The scaups are expert divers, often descending forty feet 
below the surface for their food. When pursued, wounded 
birds have been known to dive among aquatic plants and 
close their bills on some reed, remaining there until dead. 

Like the chimney swift, a trio of birds are commonly 
observed flying together, usually a drake and two females. 

Like certain other ducks, the lesser scaups do not breed 


T4 BIRDS 


until they are two years old. This accounts for the 
appearance of lesser scaups upon southern Lake Michigan 
throughout the summer. 

In Devil’s Lake region of North Dakota the lesser scaup 
breeds, being a common summer resident save while nest- 
ing, it inhabits deeper water than other ducks, except the 
canvas-back and redhead. After June Ist a drake may be 
seen in company with several females paddling about in 
the grassy sloughs near nesting grounds. Scaups are par- 
tial to small islands which afford sufficient concealment for 
the nest. Six to eleven light olive-green eggs are laid. 


THE RING-BILLED OR RING-NECKED DUCK* 


This duck has many popular synonyms, among others 
Ring-billed, Ring-billed Shuffler, Ring-necked Scaup Duck, 
or Blue-bill Fall Duck (Minnesota), Black Jack (Illinois), 
Moon-bill (South Carolina). It is found throughout the 
whole of North America, south to Guatemala and the West 
Indies; breeding from Iowa, southern Wisconsin, Minne- 
sota, and Maine northward. It is accidental in Europe. 

The chief variation in the plumage of this species con- 
sists in the distinctness of the chestnut collar in the male, 
which is usually well defined, particularly in front. There 
is very little in its habits to distinguish it from the other 
“black-heads.” Like them, it usually associates in small 
flocks. Its flesh is excellent, being fat, tender, and juicy. 

W. L. Dawson, in “Birds of Ohio,” says: “This ele- 
gant species bears a general resemblance to the lesser scaup, 
but is nowhere so common unless it be in Minnesota, the 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 75 


center of its breeding range. Unlike the scaup, it is never 
seen in large flocks, seldom in companies of above a dozen 
or twenty individuals; it shuns the open water, so much 
frequented by the blue-bills. In flight the individuals of a 
flock scatter widely, and they are likely to become still 
further separated as they feed in the rushes and deeper 
growth of the swamp. Here they subsist upon crayfish, 
snails, frogs, insects, and the various sorts of seeds which 
drop into the water from overhanging vegetation. 

“When surprised, the ring-neck rises upon softly whis- 
tling wings, and beats a rapid retreat, while you notice the 
loose occipital feathers, ruffled by fear into a bushy crest, 
and observe that there is no white on the head to cause con- 
fusion with other crested species.” 


GOLDEN-EYE 


The Golden-eye, or “ Whistler,’ and decidedly a deep- 
water fowl, is a common winter resident on the Great Lakes 
and in the larger rivers. It occurs from coast to coast, but 
the Barrow’s golden-eye chiefly replaces this form from the 
Rocky Mountains westward. A flock of golden-eye travel- 
ing with the wind at eighty miles an hour produces a sound 
with their wings from which the bird derives the name whis- 
tler. Feeding almost entirely on fish, they are not so good 
eating as are most ducks. These birds are expert divers, 
and sometimes are caught in nets which have been lowered 
into five fathoms of water. 

During the spring, the golden-eyes retreat to the tim- 
bered lakes, near which each female selects a hollow tree, 


76 BIRDS 


where eight to fourteen beautiful bluish-green eggs are 
deposited. The writer found ten eggs, fourteen feet from the 
ground, in the hollow of an oak on a timbered peninsula 
jutting out into Devil’s Lake, North Dakota. In passing 
he noticed little particles of down attached to the bark above 
the cavity. Inspection disclosed the incubating bird, which 
refused to leave her treasures until touched. 


BUFFLE-HEAD 


This beautiful little duck, known as Buffle-head, Butter- 
ball, or Spirit Duck, ranges from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, migrating in October to the Gulf States and Mex-. 
ico. A few remain in the northern portions of the nerthern 
tier of States, but the wild lakes of Ontario, Manitoba, 
and Alberta are the regions frequented during the nesting 
season. 

It is the smallest of our deep-water ducks, not abun- 
dant, and seldom seen in large flocks. The large head of 
the males is covered with a crest of greenish-blue and white 
feathers, which they raise and lower, thus presenting a pic- 
turesque sight as they swim about on the water, diving with 
remarkable rapidity. Their flight is strong and rapid, mak- 
ing them a good mark for the sportsman. 

Their food is principally fish and other small marine 
life, which they secure by descending into great depths of 
water. 

Like the golden-eye, the wood duck, and the mergan- 
sers, the buffle-head deposits her eggs in hollow trees. It 
is remarkable how small an entrance will accommodate the 


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female, which frequently uses the abandoned nest of a 
flicker. Light-colored down is used to cover the six to nine 
ashy-gray eggs, which continue to incubate while the parent 
is away. 

THE OLD SQUAW DUCK * 


Here is an instance where the female is the head of the 
family indeed, for by common consent the name includes the 
male of this species. It has numerous other names, how- 
ever, as Old Wife, South-southerly, Long-tailed Duck, 
Swallow-tailed Duck, Old Injun (Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut), Old Molly, Old Billy, Scolder (New Hampshire 
and Massachusetts). 

The habitat of the Old Squaw is the northern hemisphere; 
in America, south in winter to nearly the southern border of 
the United States. It is distributed throughout the north- 
ern portions of the globe, but makes its summer home in 
Arctic regions. George Harlow Clarke, naturalist, Peary 
polar expedition, in a recent article, mentioned that, “In 
June the old squaw’s clanging call resounded everywhere 
along shore, and the birds themselves were often perceived 
gliding to and fro amid the ice cakes drifting with the tide 
between the main ice-floe and the land.” It is a resident in 
Greenland, and breeds in various places in Iceland. The 
nests are made on the margins of lakes or ponds, among low 
bushes or tall grass, are constructed of grasses, and gener- 
ally, but not always, warmly lined with down and feathers. 
The eggs are from six to twelve in number. In the United 
States the long-tail is found only in winter. Mr. Nelson 
found it to be an abundant winter resident on Lake Michi- 


78 BIRDS 


gan, where the first stragglers arrived about the last of 
October, the main body arriving about a month later and 
departing about the first of April, a few lingering until 
about the last of the month. 


THE HARLEQUIN DUCK * 


Harlequin is not the only name by which this bird is 
known. In the New England States and northward along 
the Atlantic coast it is frequently called the “Lord and 
Lady,” because of the white crescents and spots of its plu- 
mage and the proud bearing of the male. It is also called 
the Rock Duck, the Mountain Duck, and the Squealer. Its 
range covers the northern portion of North America, Europe, 
and Asia. It breeds only in the northern part of its range. 

The sexes vary greatly. While the male, which is the 
sex of the bird of our illustration, is brightly colored, 
the female is much more somber. The young resemble the 
adult female. 

The food of the harlequin consists almost entirely of 
parts of aquatic plants and the smaller crustaceans and 
mollusks. 

Its nest, though usually placed on the ground, is some- 
times built in the hollow of a tree or hollow stump, though 
always near a body of water. The nest is usually a simple 
structure made of the stems of water plants, twigs, and 
grass, thickly lined with the downy feathers from the breast 
of the duck.. The eggs are occasionally laid on the grass, 
and no effort is made to build a nest. The female thor- 
oughly covers the eggs when she leaves the nest. 


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WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, 


DUCKS AND GEESE 79 


The number of eggs varies from six to eight, though ten 
have been recorded. They are of a “yellowish-buff or 
greenish-yellow ” color. 


WHITE-WINGED SCOTER 


The Scoters are partial to the sea coast. Among the 
hunters they are known as “sea coots.” Three scoters are 
common to the American continent; the other two are the 
Surf Scoters, commonly called the Surf Duck, or Patch- 
head Coot, and the American Scoter, known as the Butter- 
billed Coot. The White-winged Scoter inhabits both the 
Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and is found on the Great Lakes 
during the winter months. 

The flight is slow and peculiar. The males are striking 
in appearance, with their glossy black feathers broken only 
by white patches on the wing and a small white patch above 
the eye; the iris is white, the bill yellow and red. 

Large flocks of these birds congregate annually during 
the summer months among the outer islands of Casco Bay, 
Maine, but they have never been found breeding in this 
territory. This is one of the strongest evidences to many 
that the white-winged scoter’s nesting habits are unknown, 
because they disappear from regions where they are common 
except during June and July. 

During these months they breed on large inland lakes 
in Canada and northern United States, especially in the 
Devil’s Lake region of North Dakota, as they seem to 
enjoy its alkaline waters. A peculiar characteristic is the 
southward flight made by these birds when they appear at 


80 BIRDS 


Devil’s Lake in June to breed, as they arrive direct from 
the North to rear their young in the treeless tracts of the 
Dakotas. 

The nests are usually slight hollows in the earth under 
a tussock of grass or a small bush on dry ground where the 
lake forms a hard shore. 


THE SURF SCOTER* 


The Surf Scoter is also known by several other popular 
names, such as the Surf Duck, the Surf or Sea Coot, and, 
not infrequently, the Booby. The name Velvet Duck, 
though more commonly applied to the white-winged scoter, 
is also sometimes used to designate this species. 

This scoter is an American species, and is only an acci- 
dental visitor to European coasts. Its range includes the 
“coasts and larger inland waters of northern North Amer- 
ica; in winter, south to Florida, to the Ohio River, and to 
San Quentin Bay, Lower California.” 

Our illustration is that of a male bird. The female is 
a sooty brown, silvery-gray below, and with much white on 
the sides of the head. 

The note of the surf scoter is to me the most pleasing 
of all the ducks. It is a soft, mellow whistle, ending in a 
“cluck! cluck!” 

Mr. Nelson states that the surf scoter appears in the 
vicinity of St. Michaels, Alaska, about the middle of May, 
and nests commonly in the marshes of the delta of the 
Yukon River. It also nests in large numbers on the Atlan- 
tic Coast, from Labrador northward. 


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RUDDY DUCK PYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 81 


Its nest, usually placed on grassy knolls, in fresh-water 
marshes near the sea, is made of dried weeds and grasses 
and lined with the down of the bird. It is evident that the 
female performs all the duties of incubating the eggs and 
caring for the young, for during the nesting period large 
flocks are observable that consist entirely of males, con- 
stantly feeding in their accustomed haunts. 

This ocean duck feeds “‘ on small mollusks and fishes, for 
which it dives almost constantly, both in the sandy bays and 
amidst the tumbling surf, sometimes fishing at the depth of 
several fathoms and floating buoyantly among the surf of 
the raging billows, where it seems as unconcerned as if it 
were on the most tranquil waters.” 


RUDDY DUCK 


The Ruddy Duck is distributed generally from northern 
South America to Hudson Bay, breeding mostly in Canada, 
though locally farther south. This duck is more common 
west of Indiana and Michigan. In the Great Lakes region 
they are known chiefly as migrants, but in Utah, Colorado, 
and California this odd-looking duck is a summer resident. 
They frequent both fresh and salt water, flying low over 
the surface. 

Ruddys are comparatively small ducks with flat bodies 
and stiff tail feathers held erect while swimming. The feet 
are extremely large, and the birds swim rapidly both under 
and above water. In rising it runs on the surface of the 
water against the wind. 

Like the redhead and canvas-back, this bird constructs 


82 BIRDS 


a floating nest, from which the parent quickly swims at the 
approach of danger. The eggs, six to twelve in number, 
are immense for the size of the bird, even exceeding those of 
the large mallard and canvas-back. The granulated shell 
lacks the oily polish found on most duck eggs. 


THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE* 


White-fronted or Laughing Geese are found in consid- 
erable numbers on the prairies of the Mississippi Valley. 
They are called Prairie Brant by market-men and gunners. 
Though not abundant on the Atlantic seaboard, vast flocks 
may be seen in the autumn months on the Pacific Slope. 
In Oregon and northern California, some remain all winter, 
though the greater number go farther south. They appear 
to prefer the grassy patches along streams flowing into the 
ocean, or the tide-water flats so abundant in Oregon and 
Washington, where the Speckle-bellies, as they are called, 
feed in company with the Snow Geese. The nesting place 
of this favorite species is in the wooded districts of Alaska 
and along the Yukon River. No nest is formed, from seven 
to ten eggs being laid in a depression in the sand. 

It is said that notwithstanding all references to their 
ungainly movement and doltish intellect, the wild goose, of 
which the white-fronted is one of the most interesting, is 
held in high estimation by the sportsman, and even he, if 
keen of observation, will learn from it many things that will 
entitle the species to advancement in the mental grade. 
There is probably no bird more cautious, vigilant, and fear- 
ful at danger than this. 


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CANADA GOOSE, 


DUCKS AND GEESE 83 


The white-fronted goose is greatly esteemed for the 
excellent quality of its flesh, which, by those who have 
learned to appreciate it, is generally considered superior to 
that of any other species. While the cruel pursuit of the 
bird merely for purpose of sport ought not to be con- 
tinued, appreciation of its value as food may well be 
encouraged. 


CANADA GOOSE 


The Canada Goose ranges throughout temperate North 
America, breeding in the West, on the ground or sometimes 
in trees near streams. 

This is the typical wild goose, and, in the estimation of 
many sportsmen, the wariest and gamiest of the feathered 
tribe. In the fall and early spring, large flocks of these 
geese may be seen moving slowly overhead. It is the gen- 
eral supposition that these “honkers” are on the way north 
or south, but they are much hardier than we generally sup- 
pose. Many Canada geese winter about Lake Michigan, 
spending the day far out in open water where there is no 
danger of molestation. At sundown they rise in V-shaped 
flocks and move inland to feed in grain fields. 

Because of its intelligence, the Canada goose gives prom- 
ise of holding its own despite the increase of gunners. It 
would be a shame to lose this picturesque and stately bird, 
as the United States can now claim few as summer residents, 
while fifty years ago it was with us twelve months in the 
year. 

In 1900, while collecting in North Dakota, I unexpect- 
edly chanced upon a pair of these birds leading five downy 


84 BIRDS 


young across the prairie not far from open water. I has- 
tened toward the group, when the old birds rose and flew 
toward me, flapping about my head in a threatening man- 
ner; a bird with such strength of wings is capable of putting 
up quite a fight. As I stood watching the antics of old 
birds, the goslings reached the lake and swam rapidly from 
shore. It was an impressive sight to see these two naturally 
shy birds so fearless of man in their efforts to protect their 
offspring. 

Many geese do not breed until they are two years old, 
which fact may explain the presence of small flocks in 
breeding season in temperate regions where they are not 
known to nest. I have six large white eggs of the Canada 
goose, taken in Illinois some years ago, when a few still 
nested along the Mississippi. The nest was placed on the 
ground at the edge of a little pond not far from the “ Father 
of Waters.” 

On the lakes of Manitoba, these birds construct their 
huge nests on the islands in company with herring gulls and 
cormorants. The nests are composed of weeds and debris, 
warmly lined with down from the breasi of the parent. 


THE BLACK BRANT OR BRANT GOOSE* 


The Black Brant, or the Brant Goose, as it is frequently 
called, is not the brant of the Atlantic coast, but a western 
bird, ranging from Lower California to the Arctic region 
of North America. On the Atlantic coast it appears only 
as a casual visitor, and it is not found in the interior. It 
makes its summer home in very high latitudes and on the 


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DUCKS AND GEESE 85 


Pacific coast; the southern limit of its nesting range seems 
to be about the latitude of the mouth of the River Yukon. 
Dr. William H. Dall has said that in the spring it comes 
in immense flocks to the sea coast of Alaska, and he found 
the crop of one of these birds to be full of small crustaceans, 
though, as a rule, it partakes only of a vegetable diet, feed- 
ing chiefly upon eel-grass. 

During the time of low tide the brant feeds constantly, 
tearing up the plants by the roots from the muddy flats. 
Unlike the sea ducks, it does not dive for its food, and it is 
said that it will never dive except when wounded. It passes 
the night hours floating on deep water in the open sea. It 
is a noisy bird, and quarrelsome with its kind. Being of a 
very inquisitive nature, it is easily attracted to decoys. It 
is, therefore, one of the easiest marks for the hunter; and 
consequently there are an exceedingly large number of these 
toothsome geese shot each year for the markets. 

Its note is “hoarse and honking,” and when a flock gab- 
bles in company, as they often do when feeding, the sound 
cannot be described better than to call it a perfect din. 

It is said that the nest of the black brant is usually situ- 
ated in a depression in the ground and consists of grasses 
and moss, lined with down. 

Both the black brant and its eastern relative (Branta 
bernicla) are sometimes called “barnacle geese.” This 
name is said to have had its origin in a fable which narrates 
that they were developed out of barnacles attached to wood 
in the sea. Dr. Coues says that the name brant means 
burnt, and it was given to these birds because of their dark 
color, which suggests charring. 


86 BIRDS 


THE FULVOUS TREE-DUCK * 


The Tree-ducks are natives of tropical or semi-tropical 
countries. ‘Two species are found in the United States, the 
bird of our illustration and the Black-bellied Tree-duck. 
The range of the fulvous species extends from the southern 
border of the United States, and in Nevada and California, 
southward through Mexico, and reappears in the southern 
portion of Brazil and in the Argentine Republic. It has 
also been reported as a visitor to the States of North Caro- 
lina and Missouri. 

Mr. Frank M. Woodruff, in speaking of his experience 
while on a collecting tour in Texas, says: “I found the 
Fulvous Tree-duck in small numbers resident on Galveston 
Island, but found them abundant and nesting in the heavy 
timber along the Brazos River, sixty miles from Galveston. 
In the early morning, as we would leave our boat and make 
our way to our blinds, on some small inland pond where 
we had prepared for collecting, we would flush immense 
flocks of this duck, which would fly over our heads at rather 
a low altitude, and continuously calling. On several occa- 
sions we obtained specimens by firing into a flock while it 
was still so dark that we could scarcely define the outlines 
of the individual birds. The fulvous tree-duck generally 
feeds in the night, and usually at a place several miles from 
the nesting site. They leave the feeding grounds on the 
first sign of approaching day. During my stay of three 
months in the Brazos River region, only on one or two 
occasions did I have an opportunity to observe this bird by 


FULVOUS TREE-DUCK. COPYRIGHT 1909, BY 


(Dendrocygna fulva ) 
/ Nearly % Life-size 


= 


DUCKS AND GEESE 87 


the light of day. In form it resembles a miniature swan. 
It stands very high on its legs and presents a wonderfully 
curious and graceful appearance as it walks along the shore, 
feeding on shellfish and decaying matter. 

“Owing to the nature of its diet, which consists chiefly 
of grain, roots, and water plants, the flesh of this bird is 
esteemed as an article of food, and many are killed for 
such. 

“Nest: Located in the hollow of a tree, the bottom of 
the cavity usually being lined with feathers. They lay from 
ten to fifteen pure white eggs, and as many as thirty-two 
have been found in one nest, but these were probably laid 
by two or more females.” 


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CHAPTER VI 
WADING BIRDS 


FLAMINGOES are tropical birds. Of the seven species in- 
cluded in the order, only one reaches North America. Fla- 
mingoes are gregarious throughout the year. Feeding in 
shallow bays or mud flats, they are rarely found far from 
the coast. They feed similar to ducks, having same strainer 
nature of bill. 

Spoonbills are mostly tropical birds, only one species 
inhabiting the United States. They are gregarious, nesting 
in colonies. While general habits resemble those of the 
herons, they immerse their large, flat, sensitive bill and feed 
by swinging it from side to side. 

Ibises are usually tropical birds. Of thirty species, only 
four are to be found in North America. These silent, gre- 
garious birds feed along the shallow lagoons, bays, and mud 
flats, usually of salt water. The peculiar bill is adapted to 
taking and crushing crustaceans; it also eats frogs, small 
fish, and reptiles. 

Herons and bitterns have a general distribution, though 
they are most numerous in the tropics. Herons are grega- 
rious; even when they feed singly they nest and roost in 
flocks. Bitterns are usually found singly or in pairs. They 
select grassy marshes for feeding, while herons prefer the 
shores of sea, lake, or river. Protective attitude and color 
of bitterns are marked. Some herons await their prey in 

89 


90 BIRDS 


shallow water, while others run through water and carry on 
an aggressive campaign, spearing frogs and fish as they 
attempt to escape. Herons fly with neck arched over 
shoulders. 


FLAMINGO 


Flamingoes are tropical or sub-tropical birds distributed 
throughout favorable sections of the Atlantic coast of both 
hemispheres. Five varieties are American, only one of which 
reaches North America. They are gregarious birds and are 
to be found in colonies during both the breeding and 
migrating seasons. Showing a decided preference for still 
and brackish water, one seldom encounters these large birds 
far from the sea coast. 

The construction of the strainer bill is peculiar; the por- 
tion joining the head is almost at right angles with the outer 
half of the beak. The beak of the young is straight like 
that of a duck, gradually assuming an angle. Their mode 
of separating the edible matter from the waste is the same 
process used by ducks, but of course the latter pushes the 
bill forward as a spade, while the former uses the bill more 
as a hoe because of long neck. 

The plumage is light salmon, bordering on pink or light 
rose. The feathers on some parts of the body are lighter. 
In confinement and in mounted specimens the plumage loses 
the bloom so that the feathers become several shades paler. 
This undoubtedly is due to the lack of some essential article 
obtained in the natural diet when in the wild state. 

These birds nest in the islands south and east of Florida. 
Extensive mud flats slightly flooded at high tide are the 


ROSEATE SPOONBILL. 


bs Life-size. 


COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 


49 


WADING BIRDS 91 


favorite nesting grounds. Scraping together a quantity of 
the wet earth until there is an elevation of from six to 
twelve inches, it is slightly hollowed at the top, but not lined. 
While incubating her single egg, the female folds the legs 
under the sides, as do other long-legged birds, thus dis- 
pelling the popular belief that the flamingo sits astride her 
nest. 

The long, white or pale greenish-white eggs have the 
surface so thickly coated with soft lime that the chalky sub- 
stance is left on the hand when handling specimens. 

Occasionally these birds in their wanderings touch the 
extreme southern coast of Florida, but they do not breed on 
that peninsula. 


ROSEATE SPOONBILL 


These beautiful aquatic birds are found both on the coast 
and in the interior. Of the half-dozen varieties of spoon- 
bills, the Roseate Spoonbill is the only form inhabiting 
North America. Their range is becoming more restricted 
yearly. Years ago the species occurred in southern Illinois 
and Indiana. About the only section of the United States 
where this bird is now found in any numbers is along the 
gulf coast of Texas, ranging from there southward into 
South America. The principal cause for the extinction of 
this species in most of its former range is beauty, the same 
cause that led to the fate of the snowy herons, slaughtered 
for the “aigrettes.” 

Like our large herons, they are gregarious, but their 
mode of feeding is entirely different from that of our other 
American birds, except the avocet. They feed by swinging 


92 BIRDS 


the bill from side to side through the water; the edges of 
the sensitive mandibles recognize the nature of substances 
touched, so that the bird finds food in muddy water. 

In former years the spoonbills nested in large colonies 
in various swampy places in Florida. A large, bulky struc- 
ture of sticks is usually arranged by the birds in small 
shrubs and little trees growing in or near the water. Three 
or four eggs are usually laid, the background being white 
and the markings light brown. 


WHITE IBIS 


The White Ibis resembles the ancient sacred ibis of the 
Nile, while in habits it resembles the heron, crane, and bit- 
tern. Inhabitants of warm climates, in America their range 
is becoming restricted yearly. Four varieties occur in North 
America; the wood ibis and the white-faced, glossy ibis, 
like the white ibis, are peculiarly American, while the scarlet 
ibis is an accidental visitor. Some years ago the white ibis 
was found in the southern swamps of Illinois and Indiana. 
Of late years they have retreated to the wooded sections of 
Florida, Texas, and other Gulf States. 

Ibises are gregarious, but, unlike the herons and cranes, 
are almost silent birds. Their food is chiefly animal matter, 
such as frogs, crawfish, and minnows. Their large beak is 
well adapted for extracting and crushing crawfish. 

The flight of the white ibis, like that of the white pelican, 
is picturesque. They move in close ranks, alternately flap- 
ping and sailing, all birds moving the wings simultaneously. 
As they pass through the sunlight the plumage glistens and 


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SCARLET IBIS. COPYRIGHT 1901, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 
\ Life-size 


WADING BIRDS 93 


the black markings on the wings show in marked contrast 
to the otherwise immaculate plumage. 

Their nests are placed in low thickets, frequently above 
the water. Like the nest of the heron, it is a rude affair of 
sticks and moss, arranged in the form of a platform, with 
a slight depression in which three or four bluish-white eggs 
are laid. The eggs are heavily blotched with scarlet, but the 
markings appear somewhat smeared, giving the eggs a dirty 
appearance. 

THE SCARLET IBIS* 


Ibises are distributed throughout the warmer parts of 
the globe and number, according to the best authorities, 
about thirty species, of which four occur in North America. 
The scarlet ibis is a South American species, though it has 
been recorded from Florida, Louisiana, and New Mexico. 
The ibises are silent birds and live in flocks during the entire 
year. 

They feed along the shores of lakes, bays, and salt- 
water lagoons, and on mud flats over which the tide rises 
and falls. Their food consists of crustaceans, frogs, and 
small fish. 

Colonies of ibises build nests in reedy marshes, or in low 
trees and bushes not far from good feeding-grounds. Three 
to five pale greenish eggs, marked with chocolate, are found 
in the coarse, bulky nest of reeds and weed stalks. 

These birds are not so numerous as they once were. 
They have been wantonly destroyed for their plumage 
alone, the flesh being unfit for food. Their beautiful plu- 
mage is the cause of their rapid extinction. 


94 BIRDS 


THE WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS* 


Only the most meager accounts exist of this little 
known and irregularly distributed species. It remained 
undiscovered in America until 1817, when Mr. Ord took a 
specimen on the eastern coast of New Jersey. Although 
at first described under a new name, it is now known to be 
identical with the Old World species, which thus enjoys a 
wide and rather remarkable range. (Dawson.) 

The beautiful, lustrous White-faced Glossy Ibis inhabits 
the southwestern United States and tropical America. It 
is found as far north as Kansas and west through New 
Mexico and Arizona to California. In southern Texas it 
is very abundant, and in some localities along the banks of 
the Rio Grande swarms by thousands. The nests and eggs 
of the ibises are quite unlike those of any of the herons, and 
can be distinguished at a glance. The nests are made of 
broken bits of dead tules, supported by and attached to 
broken and upright stalks of living ones. They are rather 
well and compactly built, quite unlike the clumsy platforms 
of the herons. The eggs are nearly always three in number. 

The walk of the ibis is quiet and deliberate, though it 
can move over the ground with considerable speed whenever — 
it chooses. Its flight is lofty and strong, and the bird has 
a habit of uttering a loud and peculiar cry as it passes 
through the air. ; 

The food of the ibis consists mostly of mollusks, both — 
terrestrial and aquatic, but it will eat worms, insects, and 
probably the smaller reptiles. 


ACED GLOSSY IBIS 


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W HITT 


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3 AMERICAN BITTERN. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 


% Life-size, 


WADING BIRDS 95 


The sexes have similar plumage, but the female is 
smaller than her mate. 


BITTERN 


The Bittern ranges throughout temperate North Amer- 
ica and winters from Virginia south. 

One of the most familiar marsh birds, it is known under 
many aliases, such as thunderpump, Indian hen, stake 
driver, and bull goose. This interesting creature is not a 
game bird, but because of its sluggish nature is often the 
victim of the ruthless hunter. To escape detection, bitterns 
assume a pose extending the head and neck skyward, thus 
resembling a stump with a dead sprout at the side. Bitterns 
stand motionless for hours in shallow water, until some fish, 
frog, or reptile comes within striking distance. 

This bird breeds commonly throughout the East and 
Middle West, from New York, Illinois, and Iowa north- 
ward. The nests are usually composed of dead reeds and 
rushes, a mere platform with little or no cavity. From three 
to six eggs are laid, and the period of incubation is twenty- 
one days. 

During the mating season the birds produce a remark- 
able vocal sound, not unlike that produced when driving a 
stake with a hammer. This performance has earned them 
the title of “stake-driver.” The notes run something like 
this: “Quack, chunk, chunk, quack, quackalunk, chunk, 
_ chunk, quack um chunk, quack, quackalunk, chunk.” 

One excited female bittern disgorged eleven crawfish 
and seven frogs before I could persuade her to vacate her 
nest, which contained five coffee-brown eggs. 


96 BIRDS 


LEAST BITTERN 


The Least Bittern ranges throughout temperate and 
tropical North America, wintering south. 

This beautiful bird is of a retiring disposition, though 
not averse to living in a noisy environment, provided it is 
unmolested in its home among the tall grasses and rushes 
of marshes. Several authors speak of the least bittern as 
a “silent bird,” although the writer has frequently seen and 
heard it utter a peculiar “squeak,” especially if suddenly 
approached. It loves to lurk in the reedy borders of boggy 
ponds and marshy lakesides where gallinules and rails 
abound. An interesting habit of this bird is that of perch- 
ing on an upright reed, where, with its neck extended, it 
remains motionless, closely resembling in color and form a 
bunch of dead reeds, in order to escape detection. While 
pushing my boat among the rushes during a rainstorm I 
once saw a least bittern roosting in a clump of vegetation, 
with its head drawn between its shoulders, oblivious to its 
surroundings. I gently touched it, when “Rock, rock!” it 
seemed to call, and in its sudden efforts to escape lost its 
equilibrium and fell into the water. 

Its nest of grasses, etc., is placed among reeds or in a 
small bush; three to six bluish-white eggs are laid. 


GREAT BLUE HERON 


The name Great Blue Heron, often called Blue Crane 
and Sand Hill Crane, is misleading, as the prevailing color 
of the adult is slaty gray. 


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WADING BIRDS 97 


This bird is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
breeding in colonies north of the Ohio River, throughout 
the Great Lakes region, and the Canadian provinces. It 
winters from Middle States southward to northern South 
America. River bottoms and tamarack swamps are resorted 
to immediately upon their arrival from the South in April. 
The birds travel great distances to fish, usually singly. 
Unlike the bitterns, herons do not stand motionless waiting 
for their prey to come within reach, but move about in shal- 
low water, striking with their bill any form of animal life 
that appears near the surface. 

Their notes are coarse, discordant croaks. This species 
is not suffering destruction at the hands of the plume 
hunter, so are still found in great numbers along the river 
bottoms of the Kankakee and the Illinois. 

Places where they assemble to nest are called “heron- 
ries.” Some huge trees contain as many as forty nests, all 
of which may be occupied at the same time; the ground or 
shallow water beneath these nesting trees is offensive with 
decaying fish. 

The trees occupied by the nests usually die after the 
second or third year, but the nests are used after the trees 
are dead. The three to five light blue eggs require four 
weeks’ incubation, and the young leave the nest after sixty 
or seventy days. In some of our treeless sections these birds 
have adapted themselves to conditions by constructing huge 
nests on the ground. The writer saw a colony of about two 
hundred pairs along the Yellowstone River in Montana, and 
several other heronries exist on the barren alkali tracts of 
California. 


98 BIRDS 


THE SNOWY HERON * 


Temperate and tropical America, from Long Island to 
Oregon, south to Buenos Ayres, may be considered the 
home of the Snowy Heron, though it is sometimes seen on 
the Atlantic Coast as far as Nova Scotia. It is supposed 
to be an occasional summer resident as far north as Long 
Island, and it is found along the entire Gulf Coast and the 
shores of both oceans. It is called the Little White Egret, 
and is no doubt the handsomest bird of the tribe. It is 
pure white, with a crest composed of many long, hair-like 
feathers, a like plume on the lower neck, and the same on 
the back, which are recurved when perfect. 

Snowy herons nest in colonies, preferring willow bushes 
in the marshes for this purpose. The nest is made in the 
latter part of April or early June. Along the Gulf Coast 
of Florida they nest on the Mangrove Islands, and in the 
interior in the willow ponds and swamps, in company with 
the Louisiana and Little Blue herons. The nest is simply a 
platform of sticks, and from two to five eggs are laid. 

Alas! plume hunters have wrought such destruction to 
these lovely birds that very few are now found im the old 
nesting-places. They will soon become extinct unless the 
barbarous practice of wearing feathers be stopped. 

The little egret moves through the air with a noble and 
rapid flight. It is curious to see it pass directly overhead. 
The head, body, and legs are held in line, stiff and immoy- 
able, and the gently waving wings carry the bird along with 
a rapidity that seems the effect of magic. 


COPYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 


LITTLE BLUE HERON. 
(Ardea caerulea). 
2 Life-size. 


oft my a 


WADING BIRDS 99 


LITTLE BLUE HERON 


The Little Blue Heron is found from New York, Illi- 
nois, and Kansas southward through Mexico and Central 
America to South America and the West Indies. It is of 
accidental occurrence as far north as Maine and Wisconsin. 

The name “little blue” is somewhat misleading, as adult 
birds are a maroon color on the head and neck; the rest of 
the plumage is grayish or slaty. Immature birds are pure 
white, with the exception of a faint grayish tinge near the 
tips of the wings. The young, therefore, look very much 
like the snowy egret. 

These birds often breed in company with snowy and 
Louisiana heron. Their eggs, like those of all other herons, 
are light blue, unspotted. The nests are mere platforms 
of sticks. The writer has four eggs taken from a nest 
placed eight feet above the water, in a willow where yellow- 
crowned night herons were nesting in company with the 
little blue herons, in one of the Georgia swamps. 


THE LITTLE GREEN HERON * 


One of the smallest of the herons, and one of the most 
common in many localities, is the Little Green Heron, 
familiarly known to the rural Hoosier boy as the “‘ Schyte- 
poke” and to others as the “ Poke.” 

The little green heron arrives in the Northern States 
and Canada from its winter residence in Florida, or farther 
southward, about the last of April, and immediately begins 


100 BIRDS 


nesting, selecting, if convenient, second-growth timber, espe- 
cially if there be a thicket of undergrowth. But if these 
conditions be not at hand, it seems to prefer, as a site for 
its nest, an old, abandoned orchard, or at least one some- 
what remote from human habitation, but not very far 
distant from a stream or pond. In the fork of some tree, 
ten to twenty feet above ground, is collected a considerable- 
sized but irregular and loose bundle of rough sticks. In 
this, by the middle of May, or at times even earlier, it lays 
from three to six greenish-blue eggs, about an inch and a 
half long by an inch and a quarter in diameter. 

It is quite interesting to see one of these herons feeding. 
It will wade along the edge of a pond or stream, very 
slowly lifting its feet out of the water and carefully putting 
them down again. Its neck is folded so that it almost dis- 
appears, the head being drawn back against the shoulders. 
At last it sees an unwary minnow swimming lazily along. 
Slowly and carefully it leans its body forward and down- 
ward toward the water, the long legs looking and acting 
almost like stilts; still more slowly the head, with its long, 
stout beak, moves cautiously toward the water surface, very 
much like a young turkey seeks to capture a grasshopper. 
Then, suddenly, as if a spring had been set free in its neck, 
the head is thrust downward until the beak, or more, disap- 
pears beneath the surface, but only to reappear immediately 
with the struggling minnow or sunfish between its mandi- 
bles, and walking out-on the bank a safe distance, with 
two or three strokes of his strong beak he stuns the fish, 
which in another moment has started head first down the 
heron’s throat. Henry H. Lane. 


GREEN HERON. 
\bout 1% Life-size 


‘NOYHH LHOIN GHNMOW) NOVTS 


WADING BIRDS 101 


BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON 


The Black-crowned Night Heron, or “ Quawk,” breeds 
chiefly in the United States; it also breeds in southern Can- 
ada from New Brunswick to British Columbia, wintering 
from the Gulf States to South America. 

This bird might more properly be called the bridled 
heron, as the males have two feathers, four to eight inches 
long and scarcely one-tenth of an inch in breadth, attached 
to the back of the neck. The name “black-crowned” is 
derived from the steel blue feathers on the head. 

These birds are gregarious and move about both by day 
and night. As the sun is setting they may be heard giving 
their noisy cries, from which come the name “Quawk,” 
while moving slowly, with deliberate wing-beats, in single 
file like troops. 

Black-crowned night herons, like other night herons, 
remain hidden by day in some secluded piece of timber 
preening their feathers. Herons are wading birds, but are 
not very active, and seem contented in dry territory after 
satisfying their appetites with food, principally aquatic ani- 
mals. Having favorite feeding-grounds, they often travel 
twenty or thirty miles to feed in the same marsh. 

A bird lover discovered a heronry of these birds in a 
growth of coniferous trees in Kankakee County, Illinois. 
The nests were placed so close together that it was pos- 
sible to inspect the contents of twenty-seven nests without 
descending to the ground, some trees containing as many as 
fifteen nests. 


102 BIRDS 


Four to six light blue eggs are laid in a nest, usually 
composed of coarse twigs arranged in the nature of a plat- 
form. While in the Devil’s Lake region of North Dakota, 
I encountered these herons nesting in the treeless sec- 
tions. 'The nests, resembling those of bitterns, were built 
in dense reeds and rushes bordering fresh-water lakes. 
Black-crowned night herons breed chiefly in the United 
States from the Atlantic across the continent to British 
Columbia. 


CHAPTER VII 
MARSH BIRDS 


Tue Crane family comprises eighteen species of large birds, 
of which three are North American. They are omnivorous 
feeders, eating frogs, mice, snakes, insects, and some vege- 
table food found about marshes and plains. They migrate 
in flocks, but at other times are more solitary. Because of 
large size and few eggs laid, and persistent hunting, they 
are rapidly decreasing in numbers. 

Fifteen species of Rails, Gallinules, and Coots inhabit 
North America. Rails and gallinules are not strictly grega- 
rious. Coots, however, are found in flocks. Rails seek 
safety by running and secreting themselves, flying only 
when pressed when flight is short, as they quickly drop back 
to cover; yet in migration their flight is strong. Gallinules 
are strictly marsh birds; coots are aquatic, resembling ducks, 
but are distinguished by their white bill and lobed feet. 

Phalaropes are found in the northern part of the North- 
ern Hemisphere. They are peculiar in that the female is 
the larger and more brightly colored; the male does the 
wooing, constructs the nest, incubates the eggs, and cares 
for the young. Although marsh birds, they are web-footed 
and swim with the ease of a duck. 

Avocets are usually found in flocks, feeding in shallow 
water. The bills are sensitive, enabling the bird to select 
its food even if water is muddy, as it swings the bill from 

103 


104 BIRDS 


side to side. Although it has long legs and bill, it possesses 
webbed feet and swims with ease. 


SANDHILL CRANE 


The Sandhill Crane ranges from Florida and Georgia 
northward through the Mississippi Valley to Manitoba, win- 
tering in the Gulf States. 

In America the cranes are threatened with extinction. 
Their conspicuous size and the fact that they are less pro- 
lific than most of our game birds account for the scarcity 
of this great wader. ‘The sandhill crane is local in its breed- 
ing range. A number remain in the almost inaccessible 
swamps of Florida to nest; in all other states of the Union 
the bird is of rare occurrence, except as a migrant. One or 
two pairs have managed to run the gauntlet of the gunner 
and still retire to open marshes along the Kankakee River 
in northern Indiana. A few pairs spend the summer in 
remote sections of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Of late 
years, however, northwest Canada has afforded more places 
of refuge for the sandhill crane and its relatives, the whoop- 
ing and little brown cranes. 

Cranes are less aquatic than other wading birds. They 
feed largely upon dry ground, hence their food is often 
obtainable in cultivated sections, where the bird would no 
doubt thrive were it assured immunity by man, its worst 
enemy. The flesh of the sandhill crane is greatly esteemed 
among epicures, as it is not rank, like that of most large 
wading birds, due to difference in diet. 

Their nest is a huge mass of grass or hay, arranged 


2, SAND-HILL CRANE. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAG 


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MARSH BIRDS 105 


often in shallow water, but built so high as not to interfere 
with incubation. Only two buffy brown, blotched eggs are 
laid. 

In April and May, during the mating and nesting 
season, the cranes give vent to their feelings of passion in 
a most hilarious manner. The males indulge in perform- 
ances not unlike an Indian war dance, flapping the wings 
and jumping into the air, alternately landing on first one 
foot and then the other. During the excitement the females 
participate and the show continues until the birds cease 
from utter exhaustion. They also have a soaring, circling, 
croaking flight, at a great elevation. So loud is this croak 
that it may be heard after the birds have passed from sight. 


KING RAIL 


The King Rail, or Marsh Hen, breeds from northern 
Missouri to southern Connecticut, strays farther north, win- 
tering in Virginia and Kentucky, south. 

This largest of fresh-water rails inhabits the reedy mar- 
gins of bayous, ponds, and inland marshes. East, south, 
and west of the Great Lakes region it is replaced by vari- 
ous forms of the clapper rail. The male and female are 
similar in plumage, while the young are covered with 
jet black down. The bodies of the rails are compressed, 
enabling the owner readily to pass through tangled vege- 
tation, for which the feet and legs are remarkably well 
adapted, as with widespread toes they traverse the bogs 
and impenetrable swamps and quagmires with an unequaled 
agility, taking wing as the last resort. 


106 BIRDS 


Rails are less aquatic than coots or gallinules, and, 
though not gregarious, are seldom found in isolated pairs. 
Frequently several varieties of rail occupy their respective 
nests within a few yards of each other, and, again, all three 
species will deposit their eggs in a single nest, which is 
usually that of the king rail, the largest of the genera. 

No one should be surprised at the antics of this bird. A 
neighbor discovered one in the front room, after leaving the 
door ajar one morning. King rails have been observed 
about the barnyard in company with the poultry. On sev- 
eral moonlight nights, between the hours of eight and ten, 
in May and June, I have heard and seen this droll-looking 
bird strolling about the streets of Chicago, perhaps one-half 
mile distant from the nearest marsh. It ventures upon the 
sidewalk and poses under the light of a street lamp, and 
suddenly becomes hilarious, calling, cackling, and creaking, 
its hoarse voice breaking the silence of the calm spring 
atmosphere, and then he vanishes as if by magic. 

Ten eggs in the writer’s collection were taken June 10, 
1908, at Worth, Cook County, Illinois. The grass nest was 
placed at the base of a clump of grass, the top of which 
was naturally woven so as to form a canopy over the eggs. 
The nests are usually placed in shallow water, but this 
particular nest was on dry land close to a pond. 


THE CLAPPER RAIL* 


This bird, sometimes called the salt-water marsh hen, is 
found in great abundance in the salt marshes of the Atlantic 
coast from New Jersey southward. It breeds in profusion 


—— 


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i. VIRGINIA RAIL. PYRIGH FINI we HG CoO MCHICNE 
54 Life-size. 


MARSH BIRDS 107 


in the marshes from the Carolinas to Florida, and has lately 
been found breeding on the coast of Louisiana, on the Gulf 
of Mexico. The clapper rail arrives on the southeastern 
coast of New Jersey about the last of April, its presence 
being made known by harsh cries at early dawn and at sun- 
set. Nest-building is commenced in the latter part of May, 
and by the first of June the full complement of eggs is laid, 
ranging, says Davie, from six to nine or ten in number, 
thirteen being the probable limit. Farther south the bird 
is known to lay as many as fifteen. On Cobb’s Island, 
Virginia, the clapper breeds in great numbers, carefully 
concealing the nest in high grass. The color of the eggs is 
pale buffy-yellow, dotted and spotted with reddish-brown 
and pale lilac, with an average size of 1.72 x 1.20, but there 
is a great variation in this respect in a large series. 

At the nesting season the rails are the noisiest of birds; 
their long, rolling cry is taken up and repeated by each 
member of the community. The thin bodies of the birds 
often measure no more than an inch and a quarter through 
the breast. “As thin as a rail” is a well-founded, illustrative 
expression. 

The rail can swim fairly well, but not fast. Its wings 
are short but useful, and it is so swift-footed that dogs chase 
it in vain. 

THE VIRGINIA RAIL* 


This miniature of king rail is found throughout the 
whole of temperate North America, as far as the British 
provinces, south to Guatemala and Cuba, and winters 
almost to the northern limit of its range. Other names 


108 BIRDS 


of the species are: Lesser clapper rail, little red rail, and 
fresh-water mud hen. The male and female are like small 
king rails, are streaked with dark brown and yellowish- 
olive above, have reddish-chestnut wing coverts, are plain 
brown on top of head and back of neck, have a white 
eyebrow, white throat, breast and sides bright rufous; the 
flanks, wing linings and under tail covers are broadly 
barred with dark brown and white; eyes red. 

The name of this rail is not as appropriate today as it 
was when Virginia included nearly all of the territory east 
of the Mississippi. It is not a local bird, but nests from 
New York, Ohio, and Illinois northward. Short of wing, 
with a feeble, fluttering flight when flushed from the marsh, 
into which it quickly drops again, as if incapable of going 
farther, it is said this small bird can nevertheless migrate 
immense distances. One small straggler from a flock going 
southward, according to Neltje Blanchan, fell exhausted on 
the deck of a vessel off the Long Island coast, nearly a 
hundred miles at sea. 

The rail frequents marshes and boggy swamps. The 
nest is built in a tuft of weeds or grasses close to the water, 
is compact, and slightly hollowed. The eggs are cream or 
buff, sparsely spotted with reddish-brown and obscure lilac, 
from 1.20 to 1.28 inches long to .90 to .93 broad. The 
number in a set varies from six to twelve. The eggs are 
hatched in June. 

The Virginia rail is almost exclusively a fresh-water 
bird. It is not averse to salt water, but even near the sea 
it is likely to find out those spots in the bay where fresh- 
water springs bubble up rather than the brackish. 


MARSH BIRDS 109 


SORA RAIL 


The Carolina, or Sora, Rail is the most plentiful of the 
family inhabiting at large the marshes and swamps of the 
Kast and Middle West through United States and Can- 
ada to Hudson Bay, wintering from the Gulf States to 
northern South America. West of Missouri, Iowa, and 
Dakota they diminish in numbers and occur erratically. In 
general structure and appearance the sora is very much like 
the gallinule. The bill is stout, the toes extremely long, 
and, though not webbed or lobed, the birds swim readily. 
The note is a high, rolling whinny, uttered in the ascending 
scale, which note is taken up by other birds in the marsh and 
carried for miles. 

They frequently inhabit more inaccessible swamps and 
marshes than the other rails, though the sora is less timid. 
They fly awkwardly, with dangling leg, over the marsh, 
soon dropping into cover. Frequently a sora permits cap- 
ture on foot rather than expose itself to a gunner by 
attempting flight. These birds, like the marsh wrens which 
inhabit the same cover, construct sham nests. They are 
sociable creatures, as two females sometimes deposit their 
eggs in the same nest. 

In the Great Lakes region this bird arrives about the — 
middle of April, and the duties of incubation commence as 
soon as the first egg is laid. The nests are loosely con- 
structed of bulrushes and grass, well concealed in a clump 
of rank vegetation. Like the gallinule, the birds have a 
habit of constructing a little path or runway leading from 
the nest to the water’s edge. 


110 BIRDS 


YELLOW RAIL 


The Yellow Rail inhabits both eastern and western 
North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, ranging 
north to Hudson Bay and south in winter to the Gulf 
of Mexico. None of our other rails has a more exten- 
sive range. Comparatively little is known of this species 
because of its retiring habits and small size. They occur 
in many localities where their presence is not suspected. It 
is almost impossible to flush the little birds, and unless one 
is acquainted with their haunts or can hunt them with a 
good bird dog, little opportunity is afforded the observer 
to form an acquaintance with it. Grassy tracts along coulees 
and prairie marshes are the haunts of the yellow crake, 
which avoids cattails and sluggish water more than do the 
other rails. 

One observer was fortunate in discovering a little colony 
of these birds in North Dakota, and by diligent watching 
located several pairs and ultimately discovered their nests, 
which were concealed in thick clumps of grass in open, 
marshy places. Until these nests were located the eggs of 
the yellow rail were practically unknown to science. The 
six or more eggs are among the most beautiful found in 
North America; the background is a rich cream color, hay- 
ing a cluster of minute purple and brown specks about the 
large end. The nest is a loosely constructed affair of grass 
and weed stems, placed upon the ground within the pro- 
tecting shadows of bunches of sedges or reeds, often being 
placed in a tussock of grasses surrounded by water. 


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MARSH BIRDS 111 


PURPLE GALLINULE 


The range of the Purple Gallinule is tropical America 
to southern Illinois, wintering from Florida southward. 

This brilliant bird is common to the Southern States. It 
is‘ generally associated with the Florida gallinules, but is 
marked by more brilliant plumage. 

“Tt has little of the aspect of a gallinule, but stands 
higher, and has its legs more forward. As it walks, the 
neck is alternately bridled up or thrown forward, and its 
short black and white tail is changed from a semi-erect to a 
perpendicular position, with a flirting motion. As this bird 
walks over the tangled leaves and stems of aquatic plants 
resting on the surface of the water it moves with great’ 
deliberation, frequently standing still and looking leisurely 
about. Ever on the lookout for any danger that may 
menace it, at the least noise it hides among the rushes. Only 
when its place of concealment is invaded is flight attempted, 
when progress in the air is heavy and not well sustained. 
Its voice is loud and strong, but has in it nothing remark- 
able. 

“Worms, mollusks, and the fruit of aquatic plants are 
its food. It gathers seeds and carries them to its beak with 
its claws, and it also makes use of its claws in clinging to 
the rushes, where the water is very deep.” (Brewer.) 

The nest is a platform of reed stalks built in rushes over 
water or in marshes; eight to ten eggs are laid. The eggs 
are spotted and smooth shelled, and the nestlings when first 
hatched are clad in dark-colored brown. 


112 BIRDS 


FLORIDA GALLINULE 


The Florida Gallinule, or Rice-hen, has a more exten- 
sive range than the name would indicate. While many of 
these birds remain in the Atlantic and Gulf States during 
the summer, the bird is found as far north as Massachusetts 
and Maine and westward along the Canadian border to 
Minnesota. In the Middle States west of the Mississippi 
River their appearance is somewhat erratic, though they 
abound in certain localities in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and 
Illinois. The Calumet region, near Chicago, is a favorite 
summer home. They show a preference for stagnant water 
surrounded by cattails and bulrushes. 

Gallinules sometimes appear as a “connecting link” 
between rails and coots. I have observed the king, sora, 
and Virginia rails, with the coot, nesting near to gallinules, 
and noted a striking resemblance between the gallinules and 
some rails; for instance, the sora, with its compressed body 
and widespread toes, always reminds me of a small galli- 
nule. Both swim about among the rushes, and I noticed 
that one sora deposited her eggs in a gallinule’s nest. 

Like the coot, the gallinule often breeds in colonies. 
Some nests are built in clumps of dead rushes and float 
upon the water in a manner similar to that of a grebe. Other 
nests are suspended a foot or two above the water, and are 
handsomely woven with blades of grass and rushes. When 
the nest is completed a pathway is constructed of the same 
material that is used in building the nest proper, and forms 
a runway extending from the nest into the water. This is a 


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MARSH BIRDS 113 


characteristic which immediately distinguishes a gallinule’s 
nest from that of a coot. 

The number of eggs range from seven to fourteen. I 
have eleven eggs taken May 28, 1902, at Worth, Cook 
County, Illinois. The nest was built of sedges and rushes 
fastened in a clump of same over water three feet deep, on 
the border of a pond. 


COOT 


The Coot, or Mud Hen, ranges throughout North 
America to Alaska, being rare on the Atlantic coast but 
abundant about marshes in the Mississippi Valley; it ranges 
south in winter to the Gulf States. 

The coot is one of the connecting links between waders 
and swimmers, partaking of the habits of our rails and 
gallinules, but is more aquatic than either. The feet, like 
those of the grebe, are lobed, enabling the bird to walk on 
floating vegetation and over soft soil with great ease and 
to swim more readily among reeds, ete. This bird is not 
really a game bird, but is legally regarded as such. It fills 
the bag of many would-be sportsmen who are unable to 
shoot ducks or more palatable game. Coots are fairly abun- 
dant throughout the United States and southern Canada. 
Over the northern tier of states into Ontario and Manitoba 
the mud hen summers in great numbers. 

This is our only marsh bird with a white bill, thus serv- 
ing as an infallible field mark. When swimming the birds 
accompany each stroke of the foot with a nodding of the 
head similar to the movement on land of our semi-domesti- 
cated dove or pigeon. 


114 BIRDS 


The nests are beautifully constructed of dead rushes, and 
especially grass. These receptacles are deep and are cley- 
erly woven to living vegetation over water from six to thirty 
inches deep. The nests rise and fall with the water, so that 
the birds have no fear of floods. 

The eggs have a decided clay color, dotted all over with 
minute specks of dark brown or black. 


THE NORTHERN PHALAROPE* 


The Northern Phalarope has a wide range, extending 
throughout the northern portion of the Northern Hemi- 
sphere and in winter reaching the tropics. It breeds only 
in Arctic latitudes. It is a bird of the ocean and seldom is 
observed inland, except as a rare migrant early in May or in 
October. Then it “frequents slow streams or marshy pools.” 

This phalarope belongs to the shore birds and to a fam- 
ily that contains but three known species. Two of these are 
sea birds. The other, Wilson’s phalarope, is an inhabitant 
of the interior of North America. Their feet are webbed, 
and usually two marine forms, or sea snipe, as they are 
sometimes called, migrate in flocks far from land. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is one of the 
most beautiful of our aquatic birds. All its motions are 
graceful. It possesses a quiet dignity and elegance while 
swimming in search of food, which it frequently obtains by 
thrusting its bill into the water. In this manner it obtains 
a large number of marine animals and flies that may be on 
the surface of the water. When on the shore it may be seen 
wading and swimming in ponds near the coast. 


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Its habits at the mating season are most interesting. 
“As the season comes on when the flames of love mount 
high, the dull-colored male moves about the pool, apparently 
heedless of the surrounding fair ones. Such stoical indiffer- 
ence usually appears too much for the feelings of some of 
the fair ones to bear. A female coyly glides close to him 
and bows her head in pretty submissiveness, but he turns 
away, pecks at a bit of food, and moves off; she follows and 
he quickens his speed, but in vain; he is her choice.” 

Then, after the four dark and heavily marked eggs are 
laid, the “captive male is introduced to new duties, and 
spends half his time on the eggs, while the female keeps 
about the pool close by.” 

Their nests, at best, consist of only a few blades of grass 
and fragments of moss laid loosely together. Often the eggs 
are laid in some convenient hollow, with no bedding what- 
ever except that which happened to lodge there. 


WILSON’S PHALAROPE 


Of the three Phalaropes inhabiting North America this 
is the only one peculiar to this continent. Their range 
extends across the United States and southern Canada from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, much more common in the 
interior. They breed from northern Illinois and Utah 
northward, wintering south to Brazil and Patagonia. An 
extremely interesting species, it feeds principally in shallow 
water, either by wading or swimming. The feathers on the 
breast are long and compact, and the birds are just as 
immune from the water as are our more aquatic ducks and 


116 BIRDS 


gulls. One of the most beautiful sights in the prairie 
regions from northern Illinois through Minnesota and 
North Dakota is a number of these graceful creatures float- 
ing buoyantly in a shallow pool. 

The females are by far the handsomer, slightly larger 
than their mates and handsomely though delicately colored. 
While looking for the nest the bird student is not deceived 
by these reversed conditions, so characteristic of the species. 
Naturally, the dull-colored bird among all other American 
species, where a difference in plumage is noticeable, assumes 
the household duties. Therefore, the uneasiness of the little, 
inconspicuous male phalarope conveys the idea that we are 
trespassing upon the breeding-grounds. The handsome 
female deposits her eggs in a nest which has been con- 
structed by her mate. It is composed of dead stems placed 
in a hollow underneath a tuft of grass, or at times a large, 
bulky structure is arranged on top of the damp soil just 
above high-water mark. 

The female, after laying the eggs, usually joins others of 
her sex, and they move leisurely about the country, feeding 
on mud flats or wet meadows, until they become extremely 
fat. They do not join the males or young until time for the 
southward migrations in September. 

The note of the phalarope is a beautiful little “honk” 
with a nasal twang to it. I discovered a small colony, com- 
prising less than a dozen birds, early in May, 1911. They 
were occupying a slough near a body of fresh water. It 
was necessary to climb a fence before entering the nesting- 
grounds. This was a signal for the little colony to rise 
simultaneously and fly back and forth over the marsh with 


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MARSH BIRDS 117 


slow, deliberate wing-beats. When directly overhead the 
males would poise momentarily and utter soft, mellow notes 
of protest. Each note was emitted apparently with some 
effort, causing the bird to check its flight and throw the 
head backward. 

The only way I succeeded in locating the nests was by 
watching the males through my field glasses from a dis- 
tance. Presently each poised as a black tern is known to 
do just over the nest. Frequently the first setting of the 
phalarope is destroyed by an overflow. A second setting is 
then laid, consisting usually of only two instead of four 
eggs. 

The eggs are clay-colored, decidedly and handsomely 
blotched with umber brown and black, particularly at the 
larger end. The young when hatched are covered with a 
coat of chestnut brown, and are led about by the male for 
about two weeks before they can fly. 

Wilson’s phalarope is local in its habits and is becoming 
rare in the Great Lakes region. It seems hard to realize the 
reports furnished by Mr. Nelson, the first ornithologist of 
record for northern Indiana and Illinois. He reports in 
1876 that the little phalarope was then the commonest of 
our small waders, outnumbering even the spotted sandpiper 
and killdeer. 

AVOCET 


The Avocet ranges throughout temperate North Amer- 
ica, wintering along the Gulf Coast and southward. 

The avocet is outwardly unlike other American birds; 
the bill is recurved, and, though a shore bird, the toes are 


118 BIRDS 


webbed. The bill is so soft and pliable that one may wind 
it several times about the finger. While wading rapidly, 
and with bill touching bottom, the bird swings this bill from 
side to side as a mower a scythe, thus enabling the bird to 
feed in muddy water. These birds grow less common from 
the Mississippi to the Atlantic. Their favorite haunts are 
small inland lakes in the prairie districts from Colorado and 
Nebraska northward into Canada, breeding in numbers 
about the alkali waters of the Salt Lake region. 

By some observers their call is described as the “bark” 
of the avocet. They wade into the water up to their 
breasts, and, if progress on foot is difficult, they swim 
buoyantly about after the manner of our phalaropes. 

The plumage has a beautiful pinkish cast about the 
head, neck, and breast. Individual birds differ considerably 
in plumage and size of bill. The wings show less develop- 
ment than those of most waders. 

Probably no other wader is more closely feathered 
underneath than this species. The covering resembles that 
of our gulls, which explains the bird’s ability to alight in 
deep water and swim about without wetting the flesh. 

Four buffy brown, black-spotted eggs are deposited in a 
little depression close to the water’s edge. The birds are 
not close sitters, but manifest an uneasiness at the approach 
of man. 

THE BLACK-NECKED STILT * 


Stilt would be a peculiarly appropriate name for this 
bird, with its excessively long legs, were it less graceful and 
dignified in its walk, moving on land with easy and meas- 


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MARSH BIRDS 119 


ured tread, not in a “tremulous manner,” says Colonel 
Goss, as stated by some writers. 

The stilt is an inhabitant of temperate North America 
from New Brunswick, Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon 
southward; south in winter to Peru, Brazil, and West 
Indies. 

This slender wader inhabits the shores of bays, ponds, 
and swales where scantily covered with short grasses. It 
swims buoyantly and gracefully, and on land runs swiftly, 
with partially raised wings, readily tacking or stopping in 
its chase after insect life. Its flight, says Goss, is not very 
swift, but strong and steady, with sweeping strokes, legs 
fully extended, and head partially drawn back, after the 
manner of the avocet, and, like the latter, will often meet 
one a long distance from its nest, scolding and threatening. 

The food of the Black-necked Stilt consists of insects, 
minute shellfish, and larve, and various small forms of life. 
The birds are social, usually living and breeding in small 
flocks. 

The nests of these birds—when placed on dry, sandy 
land —are slight depressions worked out to fit the body; on 
wet lands they are upon bunches or masses of vegetation. 
Eggs, three or four, buff to brownish-olive, irregularly but 
rather thickly splashed and spotted with blackish brown. 


CHAPTER VIII 
SHORE BIRDS 


Snipes and Sandpipers are generally distributed through- 
out the world, breeding particularly in the northern part of 
the Northern Hemisphere, forty-five species being found in 
North America. They are shore birds and are seldom found 
far from water. While gregarious in migration, they do not 
nest in colonies. Their long bills, some of which are sensi- 
tive, are used as probes, while the woodcock moves the 
upper mandible by curving the point downward, the better 
to extract worms from the earth. While not song birds, 
some of them have a short musical note at nesting times. 
Although small, they are favorite game birds. 

Eight species of plover are found in North America. 
They have a general resemblance to the true snipes, but 
have shorter bills and are not fitted for probing, as they 
obtain food from the surface of the ground. In feeding 
habits some plovers resemble the grouse. All shore birds 
are powerful fliers and perform extensive migrations. They 
possess pleasing call notes or whistles. Economically the 
group is useful, both because they are game birds and 
because of the nature of their food. 

Turnstones are of the family Aphrizide. They are a 
small family consisting of only three species, all of which 
are found in North America. They are small, plover-like, 
sea coast birds. They prefer the outer beaches. 

121 


122 BIRDS 


WOODCOCK 


The Woodcock ranges throughout eastern North Amer- 
ica, north to Labrador, breeding throughout most of the 
range, wintering from southern Illinois and Virginia south- 
ward. 

The woodcock is a delight to the sportsman. When the 
drizzle has partly taken the frost out of the ground and we 
are experiencing twelve hours of daylight, the woodcock 
returns to the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes 
region, migrating by night. Those who know how and 
where to look for him are conscious of his presence when 
they visit the willow patches along lakesides or tramp 
through the hazel, which leads down to a springy spot. In 
these places the woodcock, or “owl among snipe,” may be 
found probing the soil with his long, sensitive, flexible bill. 
He feels the contact with a juicy worm, and cleverly moves 
the upper mandible, thus extracting the morsel from the 
soil. The eyes are placed far back on the head, giving the 
bird great visionary power while probing. 

Woodcocks are gluttons, consuming twice their own 
weight in twenty-four hours. Another habit is that of beat- 
ing the earth with their feet, sounding like the patter of 
rain. This noise brings the earth worms to the surface, 
where they are captured. 

The song-flight of the woodcock begins shortly after his 
arrival from the South and may be heard well into the warm 
summer nights of June, when the bogs are so infested with 
mosquitoes as to make life unbearable. The proper time to 


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SHORE BIRDS 123 


see the woodcock perform is during the cool nights of April 
when the birds are breeding. 

I visit the moist places immediately after sunset, where 
during the daytime I have flushed woodcock or observed 
perforations among the soft leaves. Presently a short nasal 
call comes from the underbrush. It is suggestive of the 
nighthawk’s call. After locating the bush under which the 
“speaking” takes place, there is a rustle of wings and a 
bird rises in circles. The wings beat rapidly, but the flight 
seems slow and laborious, as with legs dangling and tail 
spread, the creature presents an ungainly appearance. Dur- 
ing the ascent a continuous warble seems to indicate that 
the object which we see in the dim twilight is in a fit of 
ecstasy. Scarcely can we attribute this melodious outpour 
to such a droll-looking bird as the woodcock. The “song- 
ster” has reached a height of several hundred feet, and the 
liquid notes become more intense, until the music suddenly 
ceases, and the bird darts obliquely to the ground, alighting 
within a few feet from where he arose. The “speaking” is 
resumed, and in about sixty seconds another flight is made. 

The three outer primaries, or quill feathers, of the wood- 
cock’s wings are shorter than the others. These undevel- 
oped primaries are turned edgewise during flight, producing 
a decided whistle, which is often the first intimation we have 
of a woodcock’s presence. 

Woodeocks are active during cloudy days, venturing 
forth to feed upon the earthworms then on or near the sur- 
face. In undisturbed localities they do not flush until one 
is within a few feet of them, when they suddenly spring into 
the air, rising perpendicularly to a height of ten feet, then 


SHORE BIRDS 123 


see the woodcock perform is during the cool nights of April 
when the birds are breeding. 

I visit the moist places immediately after sunset, where 
during the daytime I have flushed woodcock or observed 
perforations among the soft leaves. Presently a short nasal 
call comes from the underbrush. It is suggestive of the 
nighthawk’s call. After locating the bush under which the 
“speaking” takes place, there is a rustle of wings and a 
bird rises in circles. The wings beat rapidly, but the flight 
seems slow and laborious, as with legs dangling and tail 
spread, the creature presents an ungainly appearance. Dur- 
ing the ascent a continuous warble seems to indicate that 
the object which we see in the dim twilight is in a fit of 
ecstasy. Scarcely can we attribute this melodious outpour 
to such a droll-looking bird as the woodcock. The “song- 
ster” has reached a height of several hundred feet, and the 
liquid notes become more intense, until the music suddenly 
ceases, and the bird darts obliquely to the ground, alighting 
within a few feet from where he arose. The “speaking”’ is 
resumed, and in about sixty seconds another flight is made. 

The three outer primaries, or quill feathers, of the wood- 
cock’s wings are shorter than the others. These undevel- 
oped primaries are turned edgewise during flight, producing 
a decided whistle, which is often the first intimation we have 
of a woodcock’s presence. 

Woodecocks are active during cloudy days, venturing 
forth to feed upon the earthworms then on or near the sur- 
face. In undisturbed localities they do not flush until one 
is within a few feet of them, when they suddenly spring into 
the air, rising perpendicularly to a height of ten feet, then 


124 BIRDS 


flying rapidly away in a zigzag course, suddenly dropping 
back into cover. 

Various tints in the plumage harmonize remarkably with 
the brush, grass, and leaves when the woodcock is on her 
nest. A soft, leafy hollow in the earth at the base of a shrub 
or under a fallen bush is used for nesting purposes. While 
the bird is laying she cleverly covers her eggs with leaves, 
commencing incubation when the fourth and last egg is laid. 

Sitting woodcocks exhibit so much confidence in their 
protective coloration that I have frequently removed the 
parent from the nest with my hand. I have watched them 
for hours, and have yet to see a sitting bird show uneasiness 
until I am within two feet of the nest, unless her winking is 
too quick for human eye; she is able to suppress even that. 
The male is usually found near the incubating bird. 

Often the country is covered by a snowfall in April, 
when the woodcock becomes wary and vacates the nest at 
the least indication of danger. This clearly illustrates that 
she realizes protective coloration has ceased while the earth 
is clothed in white. 

The four eggs are creamy or light brown, spotted and 
blotched with various shades of brown and lilac. Incubation 
continues three weeks, and the young leave the nest as soon 
as hatched to be piloted about through the underbrush. 


WILSON SNIPE 


This famous game bird, known also as jacksnipe, Eng- 
lish snipe, and common snipe, has an extensive range cover- 
ing North America in general. Late in March Wilson Snipe 


Life-size 


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SHORE BIRDS 125 


return to the Great Lakes region, resorting to cornfields, 
marshes, and other places where black, rich soil is in evi- 
dence. It feeds, after the manner of the woodcock, by 
probing with the sensitive bill into the earth for worms and 
tender rootlets. . 

A startled snipe springs from the ground with a “ yeip- 
yeip-yeip,” flying swiftly and irregularly, but usually drop- 
ping into cover within a few seconds. After alighting it 
runs swiftly over the ground for several yards and again 
settles down to feed. This bird has been found breeding 
about Salt Lake, Utah, and occasionally in the states 
bordering Canada. The favorite breeding-grounds are from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific through the southern half of 
Canada. 

The nests are mere depressions in the soft soil near a 
marshy place. Four beautiful eggs are deposited with the 
small ends together on a little bed of dead leaves and grass. 
The eggs are greenish-drab, marked with spots and lines of 
rich brown and black. In April, while searching for wood- 
cock in the Great Lakes region, the writer has frequently 
witnessed the song-flight of the Wilson snipe. The first 
intimation that such a performance is contemplated is a 
clucking which is uttered in the shelter of a few rushes or 
a little grass. Presently a snipe rises and circles about 
overhead. At intervals the bird darts obliquely through 
the air, producing a whistling sound resembling the whiz 
of a missile through space. Suddenly the bird drops to the 
ground and resumes his clucking. He soon takes to wing 
again, and this time maintains a horizontal course at a low 
elevation until joined by the female. 


126 BIRDS 


THE DOWITCHER* 


The range of the Dowitcher is limited to the eastern 
part of North America. It has been reported as far west 
as the Mississippi River. It breeds in the far North, 
usually within the Arctic Circle. Its migration is exten- 
sive, for it winters in Florida, the West Indies, and in the 
northern portion of South America. 

The dowitcher is one of the best known of our coast birds. 
It bears many popular names, such as Gray Snipe, Gray- 
back, Dowitch, Driver, Brown-back, and Bay Bird. The 
generic name Macrorhamphus is derived from two Greek 
words—makros, meaning large, and rhamphos, meaning 
bill. The specific name griseus means gray, and probably 
has reference to the grayish color of the winter plumage. 

The dowitchers are the most numerous of the seaside 
snipes. At the retreat of the tide, flocks will frequently 
settle on the shore in such large numbers and so close 
together that several dozen have been killed at a single shot. 

Mr. Chapman tells us that “they migrate in compact 
flocks, which are easily attracted to decoys by an imitation 
of their call. Mud-flats and bars exposed by the falling 
tide are their chosen feeding grounds. On the Gulf Coast 
of Florida I have seen several hundred gathered in such 
close rank that they entirely concealed the sandbar on 
which they were resting.” 

In summer the general color of these birds is dark 
brown and the feathers are more or less edged with a red- 
dish tinge. Underneath, the general color is light cinna- 


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SHORE BIRDS 127 


mon, with white on the belly. In the winter the plumage 
is more gray and the under parts are much lighter in color. , 

This bird usually lays four eggs of a buffy-olive color, 
which are marked by brown, especially near the larger end. 


THE KNOT OR ROBIN SNIPE* 


The Knot or Robin Snipe is a bird of several names, as 
it is also called the Red-breasted, Ash-colored Sandpiper, 
the Gray-back, and the Gray Snipe. It is quite cosmo- 
politan, breeding in the far North of both hemispheres, but 
in winter migrating southward and wintering in the climate 
of the southern United States and Central America. The 
knot belongs to the snipe family, which includes one hun- 
dred or more species, about forty-five of which are inhab- 
itants of North America. Nearly all the species breed in 
the higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere. These 
birds frequent the shores of large bodies of water, and are 
seldom observed far from their vicinity. Their bills are 
long and are used in seeking food in the soft mud of the 
shore. 

The knot visits the Great Lakes during its migration 
and is frequently observed at that time. Its food, which 
consists of the smaller crustaceans and shells, can be as 
readily obtained on the shores of these lakes as on those of 
the ocean, which it also follows. 

Dr. Ridgway tells us that “ Adult specimens vary indi- 
vidually in the relative extent of the black, gray, and red- 
dish colors on the upper parts; gray usually predominates 
in the spring, the black in mid-summer. Sometimes there is 


128 BIRDS 


no rufous whatever on the upper surface. The cinnamon 
color of the lower parts also varies in intensity.” 

Little is known of the nest and eggs of the knot, owing 
to its retiring habits at the nesting time and the fact that 
it breeds in the region of the Arctic Circle, so little fre- 
quented by man. One authentic report, that of Lieutenant 
A. W. Greeley, describes a single egg that he succeeded in 
obtaining near Fort Conger, while commanding an expedi- 
tion to Lady Franklin Sound. This egg was a little more 
than an inch in length, about one inch in diameter. Its 
color was a “light pea-green, closely spotted with brown in 
small specks about the size of a pinhead.” 


THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER * 


The Sandpiper is distributed through North, Central, 
and South America, breeding in the Arctic regions. It is 
also of frequent occurrence in Europe. Low, wet lands, 
muddy flats, and the edges of shallow pools are its favor- 
ite resorts. The birds move in flocks, but, while feeding, 
scatter as they move about, picking and probing here and 
there for their food, which consists of worms, insects, and 
small shellfish, tender rootlets, and birds. “‘But at the 
report of a gun,” says Colonel Goss, “or any sudden fright, 
spring into the air, utter a low whistling note, quickly 
bunch together, flying swift and strong, usually in a zigzag 
manner, and when not much hunted often circle and drop 
back within shot; for they are not naturally a timid or 
suspicious bird, and when quietly and slowly approached, 
sometimes try to hide by squatting close to the ground.” 


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The note is deep, hollow, and resonant, but at the same 
time liquid and musical, and may be represented by a repe- 
tition of the syllables “too-u, too-u, too-u, too-u, too-u.” 
The bird may frequently be seen running along the ground 
close to the female, its enormous sac inflated. 

Mr. Murdock says the birds breed in abundance at Point 
Barrow, Alaska, and that the nest is always built in the 
grass, with a preference for high and dry localities. The 
nest was like that of the other waders—a depression in the 
ground, lined with a little dry grass. The eggs are four, 
of pale purplish-gray and light neutral tint. It is some- 
times called Grass Snipe. 


THE LEAST SANDPIPER * 


This lively, social little Sandpiper is common through- 
out America, nesting in the Arctic regions. It is migra- 
tory, arriving the last of March to the first of May, a few 
occasionally remaining until November. It has been found 
breeding as far south as Sable Island, Nova Scotia, but 
its usual breeding grounds are north from Labrador and 
Alaska to Greenland, wintering from California and the 
Gulf States southward. It is more restless and active than 
the larger sandpipers, but in habits it differs little, if any, 
from them. It runs nimbly about, often with the large 
waders, feeding around and beneath them, apparently heed- 
less of danger. While watching the birds, they will often 
pass close to the feet, but at the least motion the whole 
flock will spring into the air “like a flash, with a startled 
‘Peep, peep!’ and in a compact form swiftly sweep about 


130 BIRDS 


in an uncertain manner, canting from side to side, show- 
ing rapidly the white beneath and the dark above, a wavy, 
pretty sight, the white at times fairly glistening in the sun- 
light.” When migrating or going any distance, their flight 
is steady and direct. 

The sandpiper’s nest is placed on the ground in a slight 
depression, scantily lined with leaves and grasses. The 
eggs are three or four, of ground color, cream buff to light 
drab, spotted and blotched irregularly with varying shades 
of brown, thickest about the larger end. 

The black and white outlines which are often seen of 
this bird make it possible, perhaps, to recognize it, but the 
perfect likeness which we present will enable the observer 
to distinguish it at a glance from all others of the family, 
of which there are about a dozen well-known species. 


THE RED-BACKED SANDPIPER * 


Very early in the spring the Red-backed Sandpiper 
leaves its winter home in the States and countries bordering 
the Gulf of Mexico and starts on its long journey to the 
cooler region of the far North. It arrives in Alaska early 
in May, in full breeding plumage. The note of the sand- 
piper is not loud, but has a rich, full tone, difficult to 
describe, but pleasant to hear. 

The red-backed sandpiper is not a bird architect, and it 
does not build even a simple home. A slight hollow on a 
dry knoll, which commands a clear view of some body of 
water, is the site usually selected. Here the eggs are laid, 
either upon the dry grass already in the hollow or upon a 


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few bits of leaves, twigs, and grass hastily gathered and 
placed without order. After the appearance of the eggs 
the male seems to realize the responsibility of family cares, 
for his merry song ceases and he devotes his share of time 
to sitting on the nest, protecting the eggs with his warm 
body. That this is the case is shown by the bare patches 
that appear on his breast at this season. 

With such a home as is prepared for their reception, it 
is not surprising that the little red-backs leave the nest as 
soon as they are hatched, and freely run about. When 
frightened, they readily conceal themselves by sitting on 
the ground and remaining quiet. 

This species exhibits considerable variation in the color of 
its plumage. In the spring and summer it may be known by 
the black patch on the belly and reddish color of its back, 
which is mottled with white and black. At this season it is 
often called Blackbreast. In the fall and winter the upper 
parts are brownish-gray in color and the under parts are 
whitish. It is then frequently called the Leadback. Though 
a beach bird, it is not infrequently met in grassy marshes, 
and by some it is called the Grass-bird. 


THE SANDERLING * 


This little shore or beach bird is sometimes called the 
White or Surf Snipe, and the Ruddy Plover. It breeds 
only in the colder portions of the northern hemisphere and 
migrates southward, even beyond the equator, where it 
makes its home during the winter months. It frequents 
chiefly those regions near the surf-beaten shores of the 


182 BIRDS 


oceans. It is also a common visitor to the beaches of 
larger inland waters. On these shores its beautiful form 
and habits are very noticeable. It walks and runs in a 
dignified and graceful manner as it chases the receding 
water searching for its food. 

The pure white plumage of the under parts of the bird 
is a striking characteristic as they reflect the sunlight dur- 
ing flight. 

The feet of the Sanderling are unlike the other mem- 
bers of its family, being without a fourth toe, entirely 
divided, and without a membrane. This indicates that it 
frequents firm surfaces and that it is fitted for running and 
walking upon the long, shelving beaches over which the 
tides and surf roll, leaving an abundance of its particular 
food. 

The nest of the sanderling, rudely constructed of dried 
grass and decayed leaves, is placed in a depression in the 
- ground, so situated as to be protected by the natural vege- 
tation of the region. The eggs, usually three or four in 
number, have an ashy or greenish-brown ground color, and 
are finely spotted with different shades of brown. 

The food of the sanderling consists mainly of sea 
worms, small bivalve shells, and crustaceans, though it will 
also eat buds and insects. It would seem as if its hunger 
was never satiated—always busy, always moving. These 
expressions describe its habits, as, with its fellows and 
other snipe with which it associates, it seeks its food in the 
wake of the retreating wave, and turning, runs before the 
incoming water, which seldom engulfs it. To watch their 
peculiar antics is a most interesting recreation. 


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SHORE BIRDS 133 


THE MARBLED GODWIT* 


As is the case with many of our game birds, this species 
bears a number of common names, such as the Straight- 
billed Curlew, the Marbled or Brown Marlin, the Red Cur- 
lew, and, among sportsmen, the Dough and the Doe Bird. 

The geographical distribution of the Marbled Godwit 
includes the whole of North America, though it is infre- 
quent on the Atlantic coast. Its nesting range is chiefly 
limited to the interior from Iowa and Nebraska northward 
to the Saskatchewan. In winter it migrates to Central 
America, Cuba, and the northern part of South America. 

In company with the long-billed curlew and some spe- 
cies of sandpipers, it builds its nest on the grassy banks 
of rivers and ponds, usually in some natural depression. 
Occasionally, however, the nests are found on moist prai- 
ries, some distance from a stream. In these grass-lined 
nests are laid the three or four bright olivaceous, drab, or 
creamy-buff eggs that are variously spotted or blotched 
with varying shades of brown. They are domestic and 
seemingly devoted to their fellows. When one of their 
number is wounded and unable to fly, they will frequently 
remain in the vicinity, flying around the spot where lies 
their wounded comrade. 

Its food consists of the smaller crustaceans, worms, 
snails, insects and their larve. These are captured from 
the surface of the water, on the shore, or are probed for 
with the long, sensitive bills, in the soft soil of the banks 
or under shallow water. When feeding, it moves in an 


134 BIRDS 


easy and graceful manner. Its grace and dignity well 
merit the saying that “It is one of the most beautiful of 
the birds sought by the sportsman.” 


THE GREATER YELLOW-LEGS * 


No bird bears a more appropriate name than does this 
wader with its long yellow legs. In many localities, 
Greater Yellow-shanks is the name by which it is com- 
monly known, and who that is acquainted with it does not 
recognize that the name Tell-tale is also very characteristic 
of the bird’s habits? When flushed, the Yellow-legs excit- 
edly rise from their feeding grounds, uttering loud whis- 
tling notes which cannot well be expressed in syllables, but 
are easily imitated by the hunter. 

None of the waders is more graceful than the Greater 
Yellow-legs. They frequent watery bogs and the muddy 
margins of streams. There they search for their food of 
insect larve, small crustaceans and fish, worms, and small 
mollusks, frequently wading in water deep enough to reach 
more than half way up to their bodies. In flying, their 
necks and legs are extended to their full length. Their 
flight is swift, and frequently they rise to great heights. 
When about to alight, they circle several times over the 
locality before settling. When they do alight, they stand 
for a few moments with their wings held over the body and 
pointing directly upward. It has been suggested that this 
habit arises from a desire to test the firmness of the soft 
soil before they bear their weight upon it. When wading, 
they move about in a quick and apparently excited man- 


HOM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES. LESSER YELLOW LEGS. COPYRIGHT 1904, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 


(Totanus flavipes). 


42 4 Life-size. 


SHORE BIRDS 135 


ner, “with much balancing and vibrating of the body and 
graceful darting of the head in various directions,” while 
they seek for their food. 

The greater yellow-legs exhibits great anxiety and sym- 
pathy for a wounded companion, and for a time seems to 
forget its own danger. 

The range of the greater yellow-legs is an extensive 
one which includes America in general. It breeds upon 
northern Illinois and Iowa northward, and migrates south 
in the fall as far as Patagonia, some wintering in the Gulf 
States. In its migrations, it seldom remains more than a 
day or two at any one station, though the fall passage is 
somewhat slower than that of spring, when it seems to be 
in haste to begin the work of nesting. 


YELLOW-LEGS 


This is the bird commonly known to the sportsman as 
the Lesser or Summer Yellow-legs, or Yellow-legged Plover. 
In general habits and color there is little difference between 
this and the greater yellow-legs. The present species, how- 
ever, is probably more partial to the interior during migra- 
tions. Yellow-legs winter from the Gulf to Patagonia. 
Their breeding range is chiefly, if not entirely, north of 
the United States, but many summer in the Great Lakes 
region. 'These waders, like others of their family, do not 
always breed until they are two years of age, and so many 
are encountered during the spring and summer in latitudes 
quite southerly for this sub-arctic shore bird. Arriving in 
the Great Lakes region after the first warm rains of April, 


136 BIRDS 


the yellow-legs tarries in wet meadows until the last of 
May. Two or three days of almost continued flight carry 
these powerful fliers into the colder climates of Labrador 
and Hudson Bay. 

The three or four eggs are deposited soon after the birds 
arrive at their breeding grounds. I have a set of eggs from 
Alberta, Canada. The background is light greenish-drab, 
and the markings of rich brown and purple are clustered 
about the large end. These are large for the size of the 
bird, and the young emerge from the shell strong and able 
to run in twenty-four hours. The southward flight com- 
mences early in August, and the birds linger in temperate 
North America until cold weather lessens their food sup- 
ply, when they resume their southward journey to the equa- 
tor and beyond. 

WESTERN WILLET 


The Willets are the largest of our short-billed shore 
birds; in fact, they are exceeded in size only by the curlew 
and godwits of the entire shore bird family. 

The true willet is an Eastern form, occurring on the 
Atlantic seacoast, breeding usually on the islands opposite 
Georgia and the Carolinas. 

The Western Willet is very similar, but slightly darker 
in plumage, occurring from western Indiana and southern 
Texas, up the Mississippi Valley, through Illinois, Dakota, 
and Kansas, into Canada. 

These birds partake of the habits of the true plovers, 
sandpipers, and especially the yellow-legs, like which they 
usually travel in small flocks, and are extremely noisy, 


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SHORE BIRDS 137 


especially during the breeding season. It is a common 
occurrence, however, to meet with a solitary bird feeding 
on the sandy beach of our large inland lakes, or on the 
edges of marshes. They often breed in small colonies. 

Willets are beautiful birds when on the wing. Their 
flight is strong, and the black and white effect is a con- 
spicuous field mark. Their food consists of small insects 
and aquatic life, which they obtain from the surface of the 
ground in both wet and dry places. 

The bird takes its name from the clear, flute-like notes, 
which are uttered in syllables sounding like “ Pill-will-wil- 
let, Pilly-willy-willet!” repeated in rapid succession. 

The western willet is found nesting on the prairies 
of Minnesota, Dakota, and Manitoba. Unless the parent 
bird has been sitting upon her eggs for some days, she 
vacates the nest at the slightest indication of danger and 
approaches the intruder from the opposite direction. The 
nests, are therefore, very difficult to find, unless the eggs 
are well incubated, when the mother sits close, vacating her 
nest when the intruder is almost upon her. The nests are 
often built in clumps of grass where the water is a few 
inches deep, or on a grassy slope of tableland overlooking 
the water. 

On Mustang Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, the western 
willet breeds in colonies. Arriving on the island, the 
ornithologist is greeted from all sides by the male birds cir- 
cling about overhead, calling so incessantly that the intruder 
hears nothing else until he leaves the island, and the birds 
settle down into the marsh grass to resume their nesting. 
The four handsome, pear-shaped eggs vary greatly in color. 


138 BIRDS 


UPLAND PLOVER 


This handsome wader with a dove-like disposition, 
though a true plover, is often called the Bartramian Sand- 
piper, the Field Sandpiper, Prairie Pigeon, and Quaily. 

These birds breed from New Jersey, Lllinois, and Colo- 
rado northward, wintering in South America. ‘Though shy 
of footmen, they show little fear of those on horseback. 
Protected by plumage resembling dry grass, they are diffi- 
cult to detect. 

Several years ago I was walking through a pasture, 
when one of these birds approached the roadside and with 
upraised wings alighted on a fence post and eyed me 
curiously. Her plaintive alarm note was a quavering whis- 
tle quite in keeping with the way she folded her long 
pointed wings. Two years later, when in the same locality, 
I was walking against the wind one warm day, when 
a bobolink fluttered to the grass six feet ahead. Parting 
the grass and weeds, I decided to secure this nest for a 
group, and settled myself preparatory to making a few 
notes. After some fifteen minutes I placed one hand 
behind me to arise, when my finger-tips touched something 
soft, and a bartramian warbled from a tussock within an 
arm’s length. She was a “crippled bird,” and her notes 
indicated the utmost distress. 

During the nesting season the male bartramian mounts 
high in the air, and on quivering wings utters a long-drawn- 
out, plaintive whistle. This sound, when first heard, usually 
produces an uncanny effect upon the listener, who is unable 


IM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER. ' BY A. W. MUMFORD, CH 
147 (Bartramia longicauda). 
adi 


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SHORE BIRDS 139 


to identify its author, which appears outlined against the 
sky as a mere speck. Presently the bird volplanés to the 
earth and runs nimbly over the grass in a most unconcerned 
manner. 

The four large, pear-shaped eggs rest in a grass-lined 
cavity with their points together. The background of the 
egg varies from creamy-buff to a decided clay color. The 
eggs are marked with spots and blotches of dark brown and 
lilac. 


SPOTTED SANDPIPER 


The Spotted Sandpiper, Tip-up, or Peetweet is proba- 
bly the commonest and most familiar of our small wading 
birds. It is a typical representative of the large family of 
shore birds, and is found from Brazil northward to the Arc- 
tie regions about Hudson Bay and upper Alaska. They 
breed throughout their North American range, spending 
the winter about the Gulf Coast and southward. Scarcely 
any of our artificial lakes or lagoons in our parks are with- 
out a pair of these restless little birds. They run swiftly 
over the pebbly beaches, calling in shrill whistles “ peetweet”’ 
incessantly, as they tilt the body forward and backward. 

They habitually fly so close to the water as barely to 
keep the tips of their long wings from touching. So par- 
tial do they become to certain spots along the shores, that, 
if disturbed, they return to the spot from which they were 
originally disturbed, as soon as the intruder has passed. 

The eggs are laid during the second and third week of 
May. Grassy or weedy spots close to the water’s edge are 
covers under which the female scratches a slight hollow, 


140 _ BIRDS 


lining it sparingly with dry bits of grass and stems. Four 
pointed eggs are laid. They have a buffy or clay back- 
ground, and are daintily and heavily marked with black and 
umber. The little spotted sandpiper is the same size as our 
cowbird, but deposits an egg three times as large. The 
young have so developed within twenty-four hours after 
hatching that they may be seen following their parent about 
the edges of our creeks and ponds. 


LONG-BILLED CURLEW 


This king of shore birds is the largest of his tribe, and 
seems to reign supreme in the territory over which he 
ranges. The Curlew has retreated since the settlement of 
the middle and western United States, as not many years 
ago it was of regular occurrence from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, while it is now rare east of the Mississippi. Vast 
stretches of uncultivated lands of the West still afford 
the curlew suitable feeding and breeding grounds, so they 
still abound in the prairies of Nebraska, Colorado, and 
Montana. During my trip up the Yellowstone River, in 
1906, I found this bird far out on the prairies, in company 
with upland plover and the sage hen. During the heat of 
the day the birds appear in pairs about small alkali pools, 
where the remarkably long bill is perfectly adapted for 
removing crawfish from their holes. 

I watched a pair through my field glasses as they were 
feeding about a pond. Presently they flew to the distant 
hills. Long had I wished to locate a curlew’s nest. ‘The 
female had undoubtedly returned to her eggs. Distance 


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SHORE BIRDS 141 


in the Western country is deceptive, so I walked fully two 
miles before raising the suspicion of the male. He circled 
about, coming within three feet of my face and suddenly 
darting upward. I scanned every foot of ground, and 
found, after two hours’ search, that the wary male had led 
me five hundred yards away. I retraced my steps to the 
spot where he first attacked me. He became frantic in his 
efforts to again mislead me, but I continued straight ahead 
and presently he was running about the ground in front of 
me. I dropped my hat, to mark the spot, even if the vegeta- 
tion was too scant for concealment. Finally I saw the female 
lying perfectly flat with neck and bill on the ground. She 
was completely surrounded by prickly pears, and so, safe 
from prowling animals and reptiles. I advanced, when she 
arose, shook herself, and ran rapidly away. The male was 
calling so noisily that seven other curlews joined in the 
attack. 

The four eggs rested in a little hollow with the points 
together. They were pear-shaped, having a pea-green back- 
ground beautifully spotted with different shades of maroon. 
These eggs are slightly larger than those of our domestic 
turkey, though laid by a bird only one-fourth as large. 
This gives a good idea of how large are the eggs of the 
shore bird in proportion to those of other species. They 
perform such extended migrations that these birds have no 
time for nest building, and the young attain such develop- 
ment and strength before hatching that they are able to 
care for themselves in a few hours. These downy young 
resemble the adult bird but little. They are of a brownish 
color, and have straight bills. 


142 BIRDS 


THE ESKIMO CURLEW * 


The Eskimo Curlew, or Dough Bird, as it is frequently 
called, has an extensive range covering the entire length of 
eastern North America. In the United States, it is known 
only as a migrant, for it seldom winters within its borders, 
but passes southward into Central America and through- 
out South America. As it nests within the Arctic Circle, 
it is seldom seen south of the Canadian border during the 
summer months. The northward migration takes place 
during the last of April and early in May; the southward 
begins about the first of September. Its favorite feeding 
hours are at the beginning and at the close of day, and 
during its migrations it frequents grassy marshes and 
neighboring fields, where it finds a plentiful supply of 
insects, earthworms, and mollusks. 

While in the North, the curlew’s food consists to a great 
extent of berries, especially the small deep purple berry 
called the bear or curlew berry. Dr. Coues says that it 
feeds so extensively upon this berry that the intestine and 
the “legs, bill, throat, and even the plumage are more or 
less stained with the purple juice.” These berries are so 
abundant that the curlew becomes exceedingly fat, and 
forms a dainty morsel for the table of the epicure. 

The little curlew, as the Eskimo curlew is sometimes 
designated, very closely resembles the short-billed curlew 
in the markings of its plumage, but its much smaller size 
is a ready means of distinguishing it. It also frequents 
fields more commonly than the short-billed species. Not 


PROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES, COPYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO 
38 


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SHORE BIRDS 143 


infrequently it is found in company with the golden plover 
during its migrations through the interior of the United 
States. 

In its habits the curlew quite closely resembles the 
plover. Mr. Mackay says that “In migration they fly in 
much the same manner, with extended and broad-side and 
triangular lines and clusters similar to those of ducks and 
geese at such times.” 


BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 


The Black-bellied Plover, or Beetle Head, is nearly cos- 
mopolitan; it breeds in the Arctic regions and in America, 
winters from Florida to Brazil. 

The bird in its various phases of plumage closely resem- 
bles the golden plover, but can be positively identified at 
any season of the year by the presence of a hind or fourth 
toe, which is wanting in all other plovers. These birds have 
the legs and wings remarkably developed. Plovers lack the 
long boring bills which are possessed by the sandpipers and 
woodcocks. The bills of these common tide birds are short 
and stout, and they pick their food from the surface of the 
earth, feeding on both high and low land. 

In spring and summer the breast is one mass of jet- 
black feathers, the upper wing coverts, tail, and back being 
light gray. The feathers are white with innumerable little 
bars of dark brown, giving the bird a beautiful gray effect, 
so in contrast to most birds which are darker above. 

The autumn migration is apt to be along the seacoast 
when the birds fly with the wind. During the spring migra- 


144 BIRDS 


tions the golden plover frequently inhabits the prairies and 
uplands, but the present species is usually met with along 
the edges of streams and lakes, as it seems partial to feed- 
ing in muddy places. Here their plumage serves as a great 
protection, their lightly mottled backs blending perfectly 
with the rippling water beyond as they feed on beaches. 

In spring these birds pass northward leisurely, often 
remaining in the United States until the first of May; in 
migrating they fly in lines or in ranks like geese. Their 
summer homes are in the Arctic regions, being most com- 
mon upon the mossy barrens about Hudson Bay and 
Alaska. As the birds run swiftly over this gray vegetation 
they are hardly noticeable to the untrained eye, so remark- 
ably do their backs blend with the sparse vegetation. 

The four eggs are laid in a little hollow, usually on an 
elevated spot in wet territory. The eggs are large for the 
size of the bird, but the young come into the world so heay- 
ily clad with down that within two weeks they are able to 
shift for themselves. 


AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER * 


Golden Yellow Rump is one of the names often applied 
. to this most beautiful member of the plover family, which 
is thus made conspicuous and easily recognizable. It is 
found everywhere in the United States, from the Atlantic 
to the Rocky Mountains, but is rare on the Pacific coast 
south of Alaska. They are seldom found far inland, their 
natural home being on the seacoast, occasionally frequent- 
ing marshy or wet grounds, though as a rule they prefer 


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SHORE BIRDS 145 


the sandy beach and adjacent flats and uplands. During 
migration their flight, especially in the spring, is hurried, 
direct, and in the night, only stopping to rest and feed 
during the day, returning, it is said, in a more leisurely 
manner and largely along the seashore. When on the 
ground, these birds run about on unbended legs, the bodies 
in a horizontal position, and heads drawn down. While 
sleeping or resting they usually sit or stand on one leg. 

The flight of a flock of Golden Plovers is described by 
Goss as swift and strong, sweeping over the prairies in a 
compact, wavy form, at times skimming close to the ground, 
then high in the air—an ever-changing, circling course, 
whistling as they go, and on alighting raising their wings 
until the tips nearly touch, then slowly folding them back, 
a habit which is quite common with them as they move 
about the ground. 

Plovers eat grasshoppers, beetles, and many forms of 
insect life; small berries are also a part of their diet. 

The eggs are deposited the latter part of May, in a 
small depression among the moss and dried grass of a small 
knoll, and at times a slight structure is made of dried grass. 
Four eggs are laid, of a pale yellowish ground color, with 
very dark, well-defined umber brown spots scattered pro- 
fusely over the shell. 


KILLDEER 


By far the commonest of American plovers, it breeds 
throughout the entire United States and most of Canada, 
and winters from the Gulf States to northern South Amer- 
ica. A suspicious, restless, noisy, uneasy bird, always on 


146 BIRDS 


the alert, it runs and flies rapidly. It inhabits the shores, 
beaches, and margins of both fresh and salt water. 

The food consists of mollusks, insects and their larve, 
largely gathered from the surface of the earth in both damp 
and dry places. 

Plovers are quite cosmopolitan in their range, and this 
species has been recorded on either hemisphere. Thou- 
sands of miles are covered annually in passing from its 
Northern breeding range to the southern parts of South 
America. Mariners have reported small groups of plovers, 
sandpipers, and phalaropes resting upon the ocean hun- 
dreds of miles from land. 

Cornfields and waste land are the areas occupied by 
the killdeer while breeding. 'Two broods are frequently 
reared in a season; the first setting hatches early in May, 
and four more eggs are laid late in July. 

I have four eggs taken June 21, 1903, from a cornfield 
within the city limits of Chicago. The eggs are usually 
deposited in a slight cavity lined with pebbles which har- 
monize remarkably with the dull blotched egg. 


THE RING PLOVER * 


In their habits the plovers are usually active; they run 
and fly with equal facility, and though they rarely attempt 
to swim, are not altogether unsuccessful in that particular. 

The Semipalmated Ring Plover utters a plaintive whis- 
tle, and during the nesting season can produce a few con- 
nected pleasing notes. The three or four pear-shaped, 
variegated eggs are deposited in a slight hollow in the 


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SHORE BIRDS 147 


ground, in which a few blades of grass are occasionally 
placed. Both parents assist in rearing the young. Worms, 
small quadrupeds, and insects constitute their food. Their 
flesh is regarded as a delicacy, and they are therefore 
objects of great attraction to the sportsman, although they 
often render themselves extremely troublesome by utter- 
ing their shrill cry and thus warning their feathered com- 
panions of the approach of danger. From this habit they 
have received the name of “tell-tales.” 

The American Ring Plover nests as far north as Labra- 
dor, and is common on our shores from August to October, 
after which it migrates southward. Some are stationary 
in the Southern States. It is often called the ring plover, 
and has been supposed to be identical with the European 
ringed plover. 

It is one of the commonest of shore birds. It is found 
along the beaches and is easily identified by the complete 
neck ring, which upon dark, and dark upon light. Like 
the sandpipers, the plovers dance along the shore in rhythm 
with the wavelets, leaving sharp half-webbed footprints on 
the wet sand. Though usually found along the seashore, 
Samuels says that on their arrival in spring, small flocks 
follow the courses of large rivers, like the Connecticut. 


PIPING PLOVER 


These retiring birds are very local in their range, but 
occur at irregular intervals along the beaches and on the 
islands in the Great Lakes region, west to several other 
large inland bodies. Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, and 


148 BIRDS 


Lake Manitoba, Canada, are frequented by this retiring 
shore bird. Along the Atlantic Coast from Long Island 
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the birds breed among the 
debris not far above high-water mark. They winter from 
Florida southward. 

The dark band across the breast is more distinct in 
some species; hence, for a time, scientists divided the birds, 
calling the eastern forms the piping plover, and the birds 
taken west of Lake Erie were described as the belted 
piping plover. Further investigation developed the fact 
that the range had practically nothing to do with the dis- 
tinctiveness of the band on the breast, and the birds are 
all now recognized as the piping plover. 

May 30, 1911, we plodded through the sand among the 
secant evergreen and sand dunes overlooking the south 
shore of Lake Michigan, a desolate country, too clean and 
barren of plant and animal life to satisfy many birds. 
Small colonies of bank swallows were perforating the little 
perpendicular bluffs, and about the old pine stubs the 
white-bellied swallows hovered, while occasionally a herring 
gull patrolled the beach, as a scavenger. A metallic peep 
came from the base of a sand dune, and with field glasses 
~ I carefully scanned the vast waste. A piping plover flitted 
across the beach, circling over the pebbles and driftwood, 
and squatted in the center of a little elevation just back of 
a sheltering log. As I approached the sitting bird, she 
rapidly ran in a wide circle, joining her mate. Both were 
solicitous and approached me in a distressed attitude, plain- 
tively protesting at my intrusion, by calling in their mellow 
notes which were so in keeping with the bleak surroundings. 


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SHORE BIRDS 149 


The eggs rested in a bare hollow of the white sand, with 
their four points together, dainty little clay-colored shells, 
minutely dotted with purple and dark brown. 


THE SNOWY PLOVER* 


The Snowy Plover is found chiefly west of the Rocky 
Mountains, and is a constant resident along the Califor- 
nia coast. It nests along the sandy beaches of the ocean. 
Mr. N. S. Goss found it nesting on the salt plains along 
the Cimarron River in the Indian Territory, the north- 
ern limits of which extend into southwestern Kansas. These 
birds are described as being very much lighter in color 
than those of California. Four eggs are usually laid, in 
ground color, pale buff or clay color, with blackish-brown 
markings. Mr. Cory says the nest is a mere depression in 
the sand. He says also that the snowy plover is found in 
winter in many of the Gulf States, and is not uncommon 
in northwestern Florida. 

When the female snowy plover is disturbed on the nest, 
she will run over the sand with outstretched wings and 
distressing gait, and endeavor to lead the trespasser away 
from it. It sometimes utters a peculiar cry, but is usually 
silent. The food of these birds consists of various minute 
forms of life. They are similar in actions to the semi- 
palmated and fully as silent. Indeed, they are rarely 
heard to utter a note except as the young are approached 
—when they are very demonstrative—or when suddenly 
flushed, which, in the nesting seasons, is a very rare thing, 
as they prefer to escape by running, dodging, and squat- 


150 BIRDS 


ting the moment they think they are out of danger, in 
hopes you will pass without seeing them, as the sandy 
lands they inhabit closely resemble their plumage in color. 

The first discovery of these interesting birds east of 
Great Salt Lake was in June, 1886. A nest was found 
which contained three eggs—a full set. It was a mere 
depression worked out in the sand to fit the body. It was 
without lining, and had nothing near to shelter or hide it 
from view. 

THE TURNSTONE* 


This small plover-like bird is found on the seacoast of 
nearly all countries; in America, from Greenland and 
Alaska to Chili and Brazil; more or less common in the 
interior along the shores of the Great Lakes and larger 
rivers. 

It is generally found in company with flocks of the 
smaller species of sandpipers, its boldly marked plumage 
contrasting with surroundings, while the sandpipers mingle 
with the sands and unless revealed by some abrupt move- 
ment can hardly be seen at a little distance. 

It is found on smooth, sandy beaches, though more 
commonly about the base of rocky cliffs and cones. The 
eggs of horseshoe crabs are its particular delight. 

In the nesting season the Turnstone is widely distrib- 
uted throughout the northern portions of both continents, 
and wanders southward along the seacoasts of all coun- 
tries. The nest is a hollow scratched in the earth, and is 
lined with bits of grass. 

The turnstone is known by various names: “Brant 


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SHORE BIRDS 151 


Bird,” “Bead Bird,” “ Horse-foot Snipe,” “ Sand-runner,” 
* Calico-back,” “ Chicaric,” and “ Chickling.” The two lat- 
ter names have reference to its rasping notes, “calico- 
back” to the variegated plumage of the upper parts. 

In summer the adults are oddly pied above with black, 
white, brown, and chestnut-red, but the red is totally want- 
ing in winter. They differ from the true plovers in the 
well developed hind toe and the strong claws, but chiefly 
in the more robust feet, without the trace of web between 
the toes. 

The eggs are greenish-drab in color, spotted, blotched, 
and dotted irregularly and thickly with yellowish and 
umber brown. The eggs are two or four, abruptly pyri- 
form in shape. 


CHAPTER IX 


QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 


Or THE two hundred species of the grouse family, sixty 
only are found in the new world. With few exceptions, 
these birds are not migratory. After nesting they gather 
in covies or bevies—birds of one family, which in some 
species unite and form large flocks. They are usually resi- 
dent throughout the year where found. 

While usually terrestrial, some use the trees when 
flushed. Obtaining their food from the ground, they are 
scratchers, with strong legs and feet and well developed 
nails. The plumage is of dull colors to harmonize with the 
grass surroundings. These game birds seek safety by hid- 
ing rather than by their rapid flight, which starts with a 
whirr as they beat the air with their short, stiff wings. 
Protective coloration is marked. 

Of the pigeons and doves, twelve species only are found 
in North America. Some of these are arboreal, others are 
terrestrial; some are found in forests, others in prairies; 
some nest in colonies, others in pairs, but they usually 
flock after the breeding season. When drinking they do 
not raise the head as do other birds, but keep the bill 
immersed until they have finished drinking. The young 
are born naked, and fed by regurgitation. ‘They are less 
prolific than other game birds, and yet the wild pigeons 
were formerly our most numerous bird. The mourning 

153 


154 BIRDS 


dove is the most common representative in eastern North 
America. 
BOB-WHITE 


The Bob-white, often called quail or partridge, is a 
resident of eastern and middle North America. The male 
is handsomely mottled with a shade of soft reddish-brown 
almost approaching old rose; black and white is conspic- 
uous in various places. In the female, colors are more som- 
ber, the white being replaced with buff. The bob-white, like 
most ground birds, is well protected by color resemblance to 
the surroundings. 'The original name quail applies to an 
Oriental bird mentioned in the Bible. 

The clear, distinct call notes of the male give rise to 
the name “bob-white.” The three-syllabled whistle sounds 
like “ Me-bob-white,” with particular emphasis on the last 
syllable. The first syllable is rather faint, and at a dis- 
tance one hears nothing but the name “bob-white.” As 
a call note during the fall and winter, when the birds are 
flocking, the syllable “me” is used by the different birds in 
reorganizing the little band which has become scattered. 

The bob-white is resident in the same locality and, for 
mutual protection, remain in small flocks of from ten to 
thirty from September until early April. 

Their method of “roosting” is practical and pictur- 
esque. During the short days of winter, when the snow 
is in the woods, I have frequently tracked the little fellows 
to the edge of a brush pile, where the flock is encamped for 
the night. They cluster in a circle, the tails together, each 
bird facing in a different direction. This formation con- 


BOB-WHITE. 
% Life-size 


. 


QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 155 


serves the heat of the body and gives the best protection 
from their natural enemies, as there is a guard on the look- 
out at every point of the compass. 

The food of the quails is both insectivorous and vege- 
table. They destroy great numbers of insects, including 
chinch bugs, beetles, grasshoppers, the seeds of detrimental 
weeds and grasses, with some berries and grains. The 
destructive hessian fly is the natural food for the young, as 
the mother leads them into a wheatfield if possible. Bob- 
whites should be fed in bad weather in the winter, espe- 
cially at time of deep snows or sleet, and should be pro- 
tected by law throughout the year. 

A disturbed flock of bob-white spring from the ground 
with startling wing-beats, each bird pursuing a different 
course, alternately flapping their wings and sailing and 
dropping into cover within a few seconds. They run rap- 
idly after alighting, and soon squat close to the ground in 
an attempt to escape detection. Assembling call notes 
then bring the flock together. These birds are not polyg- 
amous, like many of our game birds, but remain in pairs 
through the breeding season. 

The nests are placed in fields, orchards, and pastures. 
A thick clump or tussock of grass with an opening at the 
side is used by the birds as a nesting site. A little hollow 
is scratched in the earth, and dry grass is about the only 
thing that is used in constructing the nest. From eight 
to twenty pure white eggs are laid. Unlike the eggs of 
any other partridge or grouse, they are pure white when 
laid, though dampness frequently stains the shells before 
the young are hatched. 


156 BIRDS 


The birds thrive in cultivated sections and are practi- 
cally domesticated, but frequently desert a nest of eggs 
when the sitting bird has been flushed or nest disturbed. 
Both male and female assist in the duties of incubation, 
which trait is uncommon among gallinaceous birds. Two 
broods are frequently reared in a season; the first setting 
is begun in April, and another nest of eggs may often be 
found late in June, or as far into the summer as early 
August. The young run about as soon as hatched. 

The Florida bob-white is a sub-species confined to the 
southeastern part of. the United States. It is somewhat 
darker in plumage. Another variation in plumage, known 
as the Texas bob-white, may be found inhabiting Texas 
and New Mexico. These birds are slightly smaller in size, 
and the peculiar old rose tint found in the plumage of our 
common bob-white is replaced by gray in this species. 


THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE* 


This, one of the most beautiful of the partridges, is 
much larger and handsomer than bob-white, though per- 
haps not so interesting or attractive as a game bird. The 
pretty plumes are noticeable in the chick just from the 
egg, in the form of a little tuft of down, and their growth 
is gradual until the perfect plumage of the adult is 
obtained. 

The Mountain Partridge is found breeding along the 
Pacific Coast region from California north into Washing- 
ton. According to the observer Emerson, it is found nest- 
ing in the higher mountain ranges, not below four thousand 


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QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 157 


feet. In some portions of Oregon it is very abundant, and 
would be sought for by the sportsman with great assiduity, 
were the regions that it inhabits more accessible. As it is, 
it is not only hard to find but very difficult to secure when 
once flushed, hiding easily from the dogs, which become 
discouraged by repeated unsuccessful efforts to find it. 

The mountain partridge deposits its eggs on the ground, 
on a bed of dead leaves, under a bush or tuft of grass or 
weeds. Its habits are exceedingly like those of the bob- 
white. From six to twelve eggs are laid, of a cream color, 
with a reddish tint. They have been described as minia- 
tures of those of the ruffed grouse, only distinguishable by 
their smaller size. 

This partridge will usually run before the dog, is 
flushed only with much trouble, and often takes to the 
trees after being started. California is comparatively des- 
titute of wood except on inaccessible mountain sites and 
cafions, localities preferred by these birds. It is not known 
to descend to the valleys. 


THE SCALED PARTRIDGE* 


Throughout northwestern Mexico and the border of 
the United States from western Texas to New Mexico 
and southern Arizona, this handsome partridge, called the 
Blue Quail, is found in abundance, especially on the dry 
mesas of the San Pedro slope of the Santa Catalina moun- 
tains, up to an altitude of three thousand five hundred feet. 
In Arizona they are found in flocks of from six to ten, 
sometimes more, in barren places, miles away from water. 


158 BIRDS - 


The blue quail, like all the other Western and South- 
western species, prefers to trust to safety to its powers of 
running, rather than those of flight. The great trouble is 
to start them from the ground. 

A slight depression under a bush serves for the nest of 
this bird, which is generally lined with a few coarse grasses. 
Complete sets of eggs have been found as early as April 25. 
The eggs are extremely thick-shelled, of a buffy-white or 
cream color. The number laid ranges from eight to sixteen. 

The habits of this quail do not differ greatly from those 
of bob-white, though they have not been fully studied, and 
the species is of less extensive distribution. 


GAMBEL’S PARTRIDGE * 


Gambel’s Partridge, of which comparatively little is 
known, is a characteristic game bird of Arizona and New 
Mexico, of rare beauty, and with habits similar to others 
of the species, of which there are about two hundred. 
Mr. W. E. D. Scott found the species distributed through- 
out the entire Catalina region in Arizona below an alti- 
tude of five thousand feet. The bird is also known as the 
Arizona Quail. 

The nest is made in a depression in the ground, some- 
times without any lining. From eight to sixteen eggs are 
laid. They are most beautifully marked on a creamy- 
white ground with scattered spots and blotches of old gold, 
and sometimes light drab and chestnut red. In some speci- 
mens the gold coloring is so pronounced that it strongly 
suggests to the imagination that this quail feeds upon the 


ie 


GAMBEL’S PARTRIDGE. 


‘4 Life size. 


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CHICAGO 


BY A. W. MUMFORD, 


PYRIGHT 19) 


MASSINA PARTRIDGE 


§ Life-size 


QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 159 


grains of the precious metal which characterizes its home, 
and that the pigment is imparted to the eggs. 

After the nesting season these birds commonly gather 
in “coveys” or bevies, usually composed of the members 
of but one family. As a rule they are terrestrial, but may 
take to trees when flushed. They are game birds par excel- 
lence, and, says Chapman, trusting to the concealment 
afforded by their dull colors, attempt to avoid detection by 
hiding rather than by flying. The flight is rapid and 
accompanied by a startling whirr, caused by the quick 
strokes of their small, concave, stiff-feathered wings. ‘They 
roost on the ground, tail to tail, with heads pointing out- 
ward, “a bunch of closely huddled forms—a living bomb, 
whose explosion is scarcely less startling than that of dyna- 
mite manufacture.” 

The partridge is on all hands admitted to be wholly 
harmless and at times beneficial to the agriculturist. It is 
an undoubted fact that it thrives with the highest system 
of cultivation, and the lands that are the most carefully 
tilled, and bear the greatest quantity of grain and green 
crops, generally produce the greatest number of partridges. 


THE MASSENA PARTRIDGE * 


This beautiful species is said to be by far the most gentle 
and unsuspicious of our quails, and will permit a very close 
approach by man, showing little or no fear of what most 
animals know so well to be their most deadly enemy. While 
feeding they keep close together, and constantly utter a 
soft clucking note, as though talking to one another. 


160 BIRDS 


This species is about the size of the Eastern variety. 
Its head is ornamented with a beautifully full, soft occipi- 
tal crest. The head of the male is singularly striped with 
black and white. The female is smaller and is quite differ- 
ent in color, but may be recognized by the generic char- 
acters. The tail is short and full, and the claws very large. 

The quail makes a simple nest on the ground, under 
the edge of some old log, or in the thick grass on the prai- 
rie, lined with soft and well-dried grass and a few feathers. 
From fifteen to twenty-four white eggs are laid. The 
female sits three weeks. The young brood, as soon as they 
are fairly out of the shell, leave the nest and seem abun- 
dantly strong to follow the parent, though they are no big- 
ger than the end of one’s thumb, covered with down. The 
massena quail is an inhabitant of the Western and South- 
western States. 


THE DUSKY GROUSE* 
Under various names, as Blue Grouse, Grey Grouse, 


Mountain Grouse, Pine Grouse, and Fool-hen, this species, 
which is one of the finest birds of its family is geograph- 


ically distributed chiefly throughout the wooded and espe- 


cially the evergreen regions of the Rocky Mountains to the 
Pacific and northward into British America. Its food and 
habits are similar to those of the ruffed grouse. Its food 
consists of insects and the berries and seeds of the pine 
cone, the leaves of the pines, and the buds of trees. It has 
also the same habits of budding in the trees during deep 
snows. In the blue grouse, however, this habit of remain- 
ing and feeding in the trees is more decided and constant, 


7 


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QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 161 


and in winter they will fly from tree to tree, and often 
there are plenty in the pines, when not a track can be found 
in the snow. 

The size of the dusky grouse is nearly twice that of 
the ruffed grouse, a full-grown bird weighing from three 
to four pounds. The feathers are very thick, and it seems 
fitly dressed to endure the vigor of its habitat, which is in 
the Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada country only, and 
in the pine forests from five to ten thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. The latter height is generally about the 
snow line in these regions. Although the weather in the 
mountains is often mild and pleasant in winter, and espe- 
cially healthy and agreeable from the dryness and purity 
of the atmosphere, yet the cold is sometimes intense. 

This grouse nests on the ground, often under shelter of 
a hollow log or projecting rock, with merely a few pine 
needles scratched together. From eight to fifteen eggs 
are laid, of buff or cream color, marked all over with round 
spots of umber-brown. 


THE CANADA GROUSE * 


The Canada Grouse, also called the Spruce Partridge, 
frequents the evergreen forests and swamps and the 
shrubby areas of British America east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and in Alaska it is a resident of the Pacific Coast. 
In its southern flights it seldom passes beyond the latitude 
of the northern portion of New England and Minnesota. 

The Canada grouse, like all the related species, is a 
bird of rapid flight. The feathers of their small wings are 
stiff, causing a whirring sound during flight. The male 


162 BIRDS 


during the mating season gives a great deal of attention to 
his appearance. He is quite black in general color and 
more or less barred with white underneath and above with 
gray or reddish-brown. The female is not quite as large 
as the male, and is not as dark in color. Above the eye of 
the male there is a small area of bare skin, which is a bright 
vermilion color. 

The nest, consisting of loosely arranged blades of grass 
and a few stalks and twigs, is built by the hen on a slight 
elevation of ground, usually under the low branches of a 
spruce tree. 

The number of eggs varies greatly. Mr. Ridgway says 
that they vary in number from nine to sixteen. The eggs 
also vary greatly in color from a pale, creamy buff through 
various shades to brownish-buff, and are irregularly spotted 
with a deeper brown, though occasionally they are spotless. 

During the spring and summer months the food of the 
Canada grouse consists very largely of the berries of plants 
belonging to the heath family, such as the blueberry, the 
huckleberry, and the barberry, as well as the tender buds of 
the spruce. In the winter it feeds almost entirely on these 
buds and the needle-like leaves of the spruce, the fir, or the 
tamarack trees. At times they seem to show a preference 
for certain trees and will nearly strip the foliage from them. 


RUFFED GROUSE 


Among New England sportsmen the Ruffed Grouse, 
often called Partridge, is the favorite game bird. The true 
ruffed grouse occurs in New York, westward through the 


9 RUFFED GROUSE 
Bonasa um bellus) 


3 Life-size. 


QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 163 


United States to the Rocky Mountains, becoming rather 
scarce beyond the states bordering the Mississippi. Maine 
and the White and Green mountain regions northward into 
Quebec is the home of the Canada ruffed grouse, a sub- 
species slightly larger. ‘Two other forms occur in the West; 
the Oregon ruffed grouse inhabits the Pacific Coast and the 
gray ruffed grouse is found in the Northwest east of the 
Sierras and within the Rocky Mountain region. 

One of the most marvelous examples of adaptability to 
climatic conditions is shown in the feet of the ruffed grouse. 
The birds are resident the year around wherever found, 
and, requiring snow shoes for winter, the toes in fall are 
equipped with fine, stiff, projecting feathers, extending hor- 
izontally on either side of the toes, resembling a double- 
toothed comb in form. This added foot surface enables the 
bird to walk with ease on the surface of the snow. The 
projections drop off at the approach of warm weather. 

Birds give vent to their emotion during the mating and 
breeding season by various vocal sounds, many of which are 
highly musical. Some species produce what is known as 
wind music, such as the boom of the nighthawks, caused by 
the birds swooping earthward from a height, allowing the 
air to pass through the primaries turned on edge. Of a 
somewhat similar nature is the “drumming of the grouse”; 
the bird assumes an attitude similar to a strutting turkey 
gobbler as from stump or log, with spreading tail, he rap- 
idly beats the sides of his body with the wings, producing a 
sound like the muffled roll of a drum. 

The flight of the partridge is terrific, but of short dura- 
tion. When flushed by the gunner he seems to have the 


164 BIRDS 


faculty of keeping the trunk of a tree between himself and 
the enemy. If the birds are disturbed by a prowling animal 
or untrained dog, they take readily to the lower branches of 
trees, and will permit a person to walk directly under them 
without attempting to fly. They are often killed from such 
perch by unsportsmanlike hunters. 

Grouse choose a varied diet— insects, spiders, wild ber- 
ries, and small fruits; also partaking of grains and fresh- 
sprouted vegetable matter. 

The nests are usually a hollow in the leaves at the base 
of a tree or under a fallen branch. From eight to ten cream- 
colored eggs are laid. The bird sits extremely close, and 
one may pass within a few feet of the parent bird without 
disturbing her. The nests are usually near an opening in 
the woods or on a small incline overlooking a damp or 
swampy place. The young are piloted about by the mother 
as soon as they leave the shell. Protective coloration is 
marked. 

THE WILLOW PTARMIGAN 


In summer the Willow Ptarmigan is distributed 
throughout Arctic America. It breeds abundantly in the 
valleys of the Rocky Mountains, on the Barren Grounds, 
and along the Arctic coasts. The winter dress of this 
beautiful bird is snow white, with the central tail feathers 
black tipped with white. In summer the head and neck are 
yellowish-red, back black, barred rather finely with yellow- 
ish-brown and chestnut, although the most of the wings and 
under parts remain white, as in winter. Large numbers of 
the willow ptarmigan are said in the winter to shelter in 


. 
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QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 165 


willow thickets and dwarf birches on the banks of lakes and 
rivers, where they feed on the buds of the smaller shrubs, 
which forms their principal food at that season. Their 
favorite resorts in daytime are barren, sandy tracts of land, 
but they pass the nights in holes in the snow. When pur- 
sued by sportsmen or birds of prey they dive in the loose 
snow and work their way beneath its surface. 

The nests are mere depressions in the ground, lined with 
leaves, hay, and a few feathers from the birds themselves. 
These birds often occupy the same nest in successive sea- 
sons. Ten eggs are usually laid. The eggs have a ground 
color varying from yellowish-buff to deep chestnut-brown, 
more or less sprinkled, speckled, spotted, or marbled with 
rich brown or black. 

They are to be distinguished from all other members of 
the grouse family by the dense feathering of the tarsus and 
toes, by turning white in winter, and by the possession of 
only fourteen tail feathers. The bill is very stout and the 
tail always black. Cc. C. M. 


WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN 


Ptarmigan inhabit the colder regions of America and 
Europe. Their occurrence is in western Canada and in the 
United States, chiefly in the mountainous regions of Colo- 
rado, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, where 
they reach an altitude possessing a decidedly boreal climate. 
During the winters they sometimes descend into the plains 
and feed upon wild sprouts and berries.- The winter plu- 
mage is pure white, while in spring the feathers are brown 


166 BIRDS 


mottled with gray. Both types of coloration serve to pro- 
tect the birds from their natural enemies. They range in 
comparatively open places, and in winter their immaculate 
feathers enable the birds to move about over the snow with- 
out attracting the attention of their natural enemies, eagles, 
owls, foxes, and other carnivorous creatures. Their summer 
homes on the mountain ranges are often above the timber 
line, where nothing but a sparse growth of moss exists. The 
birds at this season of the year are very difficult to find, 
owing to the similarity of their plumage to the surrounding 
rocks and vegetation. 

Ptarmigan are seldom hunted with dog or gun, and con- 
sequently are approachable, often exhibiting no more fear 
of a man than does the ordinary barnyard fowl. The white- 
tailed ptarmigan inhabits the Rocky Mountain and Sierra 
Nevada ranges from Colorado northward to Alberta and 
British Columbia. 

Naturalists have not found it possible to make many 
extensive observations of this interesting bird during the 
breeding season, in June, because it nests in a region sub- 
ject to violent weather changes during the early summer, 
making a camping outfit imperative to provide against 
violent storms. 

PRAIRIE CHICKEN 


The Prairie Chicken, or Prairie Hen, was formerly one 
of the most common birds on the plains and prairies of the 
middle and western United States and Canada. In Minne- 
sota and Manitoba this famous bird is found in the same 
districts as its lighter-plumaged relative, the sharp-tailed 


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QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 167 


grouse. Certain portions of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas 
are the haunts of the rare and smaller form, known as the 
lesser prairie chicken. 

The prairie chicken, or pinnated grouse, like the tur- 
keys, are polygamous. In August the young and old con- 
gregate in droves, numbering from a dozen to upwards of a 
hundred. Over the grain and stubble fields and into plowed 
ground these flocks forage from early fall until the first 
spring thaws. In March and early April they begin to 
disband, and the males may then be heard “booming” at 
sunrise from some elevated spot exposed on all sides. The 
cocks have a small patch of loose skin on either side of the 
neck, which they are capable of inflating with air until these 
bare spots swell to the size of a large crabapple, resembling 
little oranges. While the males are filling and emptying 
these pouches the head is lowered and the wings partially 
spread and drooping. Several cocks assume this posture 
simultaneously, each facing the others and booming alter- 
nately. At this juncture it is not an unfamiliar sight to see 
a hen fly directly in their midst, when a battle royal ensues. 
Perhaps the madam has just left a setting of nine to 
eighteen eggs, but she soon leaves the rivals to their comical 
antics. 

The nest is usually prepared in a sheltered spot, under a 
clump of dead weeds or a bunch of weather-beaten grass, or 
at the base of a small bush or shrub. The parent scratches 
a slight hollow in the earth, lining it with dead vegetation 
and a few feathers from her own breast. The first egg is 
laid sometimes as early as April 20th, but usually during 
the forepart of May. The period of incubation is three 


” 


168 BIRDS 


weeks, and the young follow the mother as soon as hatched. 

The prairie chicken has many natural enemies. Snakes, 
weasels, minks, coyotes, rats, and crows are among the 
many which tend to decrease the broods by destroying the 
eggs and devouring the chicks. What could be a more 
tempting morsel for the horned owl or a prairie falcon? 
Wet, cold springs retard the nesting, and result frequently 
in flooding the nests. The prairie chicken usually deserts a 
disturbed nest, and now too few good nesting sites remain. 
Fortunately, many states have protected these birds for 
some years by not allowing any shooting. As a result in 
many sections this magnificent bird, so beneficial to the 
farmer, is occurring in something like its former abundance. 
They are hardy birds, residing the year round in the same 
locality unless driven to other sections by persecution. 

Their food is principally grain, berries, grasshoppers, 
beetles, and willow buds. Their value to the farmer is 
almost as important as that of the bob-white and meadow 
lark, all of which thrive in cultivated sections, where the 
agriculturist must realize that the day is not far distant 
when he must choose between the grasshopper and other 
pests and these resident game birds, which thrive if they are 
afforded protection from the gunner. 


THE LESSER PRAIRIE HEN * 


Extending over the great plains from western and prob- 
ably southern Texas northward through Oklahoma to Kan- 
sas is said to be the habitation of the Lesser Prairie Hen, 
though it is not fully known. It inhabits the fertile prairies, 


‘azis-ajly % 
‘NaH GIMIVUd BASSAT 


QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 169 


seldom frequenting the timbered lands, except during sleety 
storms or when the ground is covered with snow. Its flesh 
is dark and it is not very highly esteemed as a table bird. 

The habits of these birds are similar to those of the 
prairie hen. During the early breeding season they feed 
upon grasshoppers, crickets, and other forms of insect life, 
but afterwards upon cultivated grains gleaned from the 
stubble in autumn and the cornfields in winter. They are 
also fond of tender buds, berries, and fruits. When flushed 
these birds rise from the ground with a less whirring sound 
than the ruffed grouse or bob-white, and their flight is not 
as swift but more protracted and with less apparent effort, 
flapping and sailing along, often to the distance of a mile 
or more. In the fall the birds come together and remain 
in flocks until the mating season of spring. 

The nest of the prairie hen is placed on the ground, in 
the thick prairie grass, and at the foot of bushes when the 
earth is barren; a hollow is scratched in the soil and spar- 
ingly lined with grasses and a few feathers. . There are 
from eight to twelve eggs, tawny brown, sometimes with an 
olive hue and occasionally sprinkled with brown. 

During the years 1869 and 1870, while the writer was 
living in southwestern Kansas, which was then the far West, 
prairie chickens, as they were called there, were so numer- 
ous that they were rarely used for food by the inhabitants, 
and, as there was then no readily accessible market, the birds 
were slaughtered for wanton sport. They have become well- 
nigh exterminated in many localities where they were for- 
merly very abundant, owing to the immense numbers that 
hunters have shot to be sold in the eastern markets. 


170 BIRDS 


PRAIRIE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 


The Sharp-tailed Grouse, in this form, is found chiefly 
in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and western Wisconsin. Occa- 
sionally they have been recorded in northern Illinois. It 
is partially migratory, living in prairies in summer and 
wooded regions in winter. 

The true form of the sharp-tailed grouse is a more north- 
erly species, inhabiting the west and central portions of 
Manitoba and Alberta. In the northwestern section of 
the United States, from Montana to the Pacific, includ- 
ing Washington and Oregon, the Columbian sharp-tailed 
grouse, another species, occurs. ‘The sharp-tailed grouse 
may be met with in the same sections occupied by our com- 
mon prairie chicken, but may be readily distinguished from 
it by the feathered legs and toes. The Columbian sharp- 
tailed is fond of wild fruit, so that during the fall they 
move from the prairie lands into the cranberry marshes to 
feed. 

Prairie sharp-tailed grouse are considerably lighter in 
color than the prairie chicken, and the under parts are with- 
out the barred effect. In winter they hide in the deep 
snow and tunnel beneath the crust to feed on the sprouts of 
willows, larches, and aspens. Like the ruffed grouse, it fre- 
quently roosts in trees, but during the spring and summer 
months it remains on the ground. 

From seven to twelve eggs are laid in May or early in 
June. Some sets bear a close resemblance to those of the 
prairie chicken and are dark olive-green. Others are gray- 


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QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 171 


ish-drab sparingly covered with markings of pale brown. 
I found this bird breeding in the rolling prairies of western 
Minnesota during the first half of June. 


WILD TURKEY 


This great game bird is nearing extinction in many sec- 
tions of the United States. Fifty years ago it was of 
common occurrence from the Atlantic to Kansas and Mis- 
souri, while today few states can claim this noble bird as a 
resident. A sub-species, the Florida wild turkey, haunts the 
almost inaccessible portions of Florida, where shrubbery 
and wild fruits prevail. In the Southwest other varieties 
still range in the mountainous regions of Missouri, Arkan- 
sas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 

In the Aransas Pass region of southwestern Texas I 
encountered several small flocks of the Mexican wild turkey 
in February and March, when the gobblers were noisy and 
aggressive. The Mexicans sometimes use dogs in hunting 
this gallinaceous fowl; when pursued down hill it does not 
seem to occur to these birds that escape is possible by flight 
only and as a result they are caught. I have never known 
a dog to capture one when the turkey was running up a 
hill, though turkeys seldom take refuge from a dog by 
flight. 

Large pecan trees in the mountains, along little streams, 
are favorite roosting-places for these wild turkeys, which 
frequent the same tree nightly. Before sunrise the males of 
these polygamous birds may be seen strutting through the 
fields with drooping wings, gobbling incessantly and chal- 


172 BIRDS 


lenging every other gobbler. I was fortunate in discovering 
a nest under a fallen tree, on a little knoll between.two 
gullies. The bird used a large quantity of dead leaves and 
feathers in constructing the nest, so that it was suggestive 
of a wild duck’s nest. It contained thirteen eggs when 
found. In shape and markings they resemble those of the 
domestic turkey, but are slightly paler and smaller. The 
nest is generally abandoned if the eggs are touched. 


PASSENGER PIGEON 


The former range of the Passenger Pigeon, or Wild 
Pigeon, was eastern North America northward to Hudson 
Bay. 

“No more marvelous tales have been handed down to us 
from a remote past than those which our own fathers tell 
concerning the former abundance of the wild pigeon during 
its migrations and in its breeding haunts. During their 
passage the sun was darkened, the beating of their wings 
was like thunder, and their steady oncoming like the 
continuous roar of Niagara. Where they roosted great 
branches, and even trees two feet in diameter, were broken 
down beneath their weight, and where they bred a hundred 
square miles of timber was weighted down with their nests. 
When they lighted on the ground in vast swarms to feed, 
the rear birds flew over the flock to alight in front, looking 
like a rolling surf wave of blue. 

“Until the middle of the last century the species enjoyed 
a general distribution throughout eastern North America, 
and was found scatteringly to the Pacific Coast. The birds 


~~ re eS e 


QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 173 


were, however, rather irregular in their habits, and the cen- 
ter of abundance within historic times was in the North 
Central States. They were best known from Kentucky, 
through the accounts of Wilson and Audubon, and in Mich- 
igan, where the birds had their last known stronghold, and 
where the last considerable flight was observed, in 1888. In 
Kentucky they bred and occasionally wintered in such num- 
bers that Wilson once computed a single flight at upwards 
of two billions. Since the pigeons appeared absolutely 
countless, their destruction was carried forward upon a 
colossal scale. Men gathered them with nets and knocked 
them down. with poles, or felled trees to secure the fat 
squabs. At Pentwater, Michigan, people lined the cliffs 
and beat them down with sticks as they passed the crest of 
the ridge, until the ground was heaped with countless thou- 
sands. Powder and shot were deemed unnecessary, although 
fifty-nine pigeons are reported as killed by one discharge of 
a shotgun. 

“Tn 1878 Prof. H. B. Roney wrote in the Chicago Field 
(Vol. X, pp. 345-347) : 

“<The nesting area situated near Petoskey included not 
less than 150,000 acres within its limits. The number of the 
dead birds sent by rail was estimated at 12,500 daily, or 
1,500,000 for the summer, besides 80,352 live birds; and an 
equal number was sent by water. We have,’ says the writer, 
‘adding the thousands of dead and wounded ones not 
secured, and the myriads of squabs left dead in the nest, 
at the lowest possible estimate, a grand total of 1,000,000,- 
000 pigeons sacrificed to mammon during the nesting of 
1878.’ 


174 BIRDS 


“Tt is evident that such wholesale slaughter could not 
go on forever. The extraordinary flights suddenly ceased 
during the ’80s. Since that time, “What has become of the 
passenger pigeon?’ has been the puzzling question. It is 
known that the birds still breed by single pairs, to some 
extent at least; but doubtless the passenger pigeons are 
gone — gone irretrievably, after the manner of the bison— 
lost in the maw of human greed. 

“One or two white eggs in a rude platform of sticks 
was laid on every available branch.” (Adapted from Daw- 
son’s Birds of Ohio.) 


MOURNING DOVE 


The Mourning Dove ranges throughout the United 
States and southern Canada, breeding from Cuba north 
to Ontario and Quebec. 

Since the extinction of the passenger pigeon, the mourn- 
ing or turtle dove is the only representative of the family we 
have in eastern North America north of Florida and Louisi- 
ana. The bird’s rapid and irregular flight is accompanied 
by a whistling of the wings. Disturbed while nesting, the 
birds alternately flutter and hop until they have misled the 
trespasser. Mourning doves are gregarious when migrat- 
ing, and again flock soon after the young leave the nest. 
When gregarious they visit cornfields, consequently their 
flesh is very palatable, and farmers kill them in great num- 
bers in open season as game and because of their destruction 
of grain. Fond of salt, they are found where stock is 
salted. 


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MOURNING DOVE 


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QUAIL, GROUSE, ETC. 175 


The love song has a pathetic tone which gives the name 
“mourning.” Orchards, groves, and roadsides grown up 
with shrubbery are favorite nesting sites. The young are 
fed after the manner of the albatross, petrels, and humming- 
birds, as the predigested matter is introduced into the crop 
of the young by regurgitation. 

Two white eggs are deposited in a loosely constructed 
nest of sticks, near the ground in the East, sometimes on 
the ground in the West. 


RING-NECKED DOVE * 


The popular names for this favorite bird are turtle dove, 
common dove, and Carolina dove. It is an inhabitant of all 
of temperate North America to a little north of the United 
States boundary, south through Mexico and Central Amer- 
ica to the Isthmus of Panama, Cuba, Jamaica, and some 
other West Indian islands. The species have even been 
known to winter as far north as Canada, Mr. John J. Mor- 
ley, of Windsor, Ontario, informing Prof. Baird that he 
had seen considerable numbers near that place on the 6th 
of December, 1878, and that he had on other occasions seen 
it in various places, from three to twelve at a time. It is 
a common summer resident in Illinois. The majority arrive 
the last of March or first of April, and depart by the middle 
of October. In many places it becomes partly domesticated, 
breeding in the trees in the yard and showing but little fear 
when approached. 


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